Barbara Stüwe-Eßl has a degree in theater and media studies from the University of Vienna and completed cultural management training at the Institute for Cultural Management at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She has been working for the Interessengemeinschaft Freie Theaterarbeit since 1999. From 2016-2019, she was an expert on culture and social inclusion as part of the EU Work Plan for Culture. She was a speaker at the Arts for Health workshop of the Austrian Federal Chancellery and a member of the editorial team of the magazine Kultur als Rezept (IG Kultur Österreich).