• PhD, Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
• MA, Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
• BA, Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University

At DA, Emma focuses on local public sector innovation and equitable outcomes through her work with city governments and philanthropic organizations. Most recently, Emma worked with the Ballmer Group to establish an Equitable Outcomes Team that aims to instill equity in several priority areas, including police response to mental health crises. 

Currently, as part of the Global Mayors Challenge, Emma works with US cities to implement the ambitious policy goals outlined in their winning proposals. Emma is working with one city on equity-centered initiatives to expand BIPOC participation in previously non-diverse industries; she is supporting another city with the development of a rapid response system to tackle the city’s intractable opioid overdose epidemic; and she supports a third city with deployment of a mobile career unit that will use data to micro-target interventions based on the specific needs of underserved demographics. Emma emphasizes creative problem solving, strong collaboration, and robust structures and processes in her work with cities.

As a senior researcher, Emma wrote a book-length research project that explains how and why states share judicial power with ethnic and religious minority groups in a range of different ways, as well as which methods are most effective for good governance. She used qualitative and quantitative research methods, and based her conclusions on analysis drawn from twenty months of court observations, archival research, and interview-based fieldwork in Tanzania, Malawi, Egypt, Lebanon, England, and France.