Growing up in Aberdare, in the South Wales Valleys, Emma faced many barriers in identifying her own career path. At school, girls were pigeonholed into gender-stereotypical roles, received limited encouragement from teachers and career advisors to pursue interests outside of gender norms and the connection between subjects studied and employment opportunities available was not always clear.
With limited career knowledge of what was available to her locally, Emma found her first role in Cardiff, advocating equality within the Cross-Cutting Themes department in Welsh Government which had a portfolio of Equal Opportunities, Gender Mainstreaming, Sustainable Development, Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion.
Emma moved on to roles within the private sector, before arriving at the third sector, igniting Emma's passion for developing people and empowering underserved communities.
Emma built a successful career at Chwarae Teg, Wales' leading gender equality charity where she worked for nearly 13 years', working her way up through the organisation to Head of Projects and Partnerships, overseeing a multi-disciplinary team and leading various projects, partnerships, and training functions before the organisation sadly closed in October 2024.
Emma is passionate about gender equality and is dedicated to using her skills, knowledge and experience to continue delivering projects, programmes and events supporting girls and women to reach their full potential. Most recent projects include:
Revolutionising career advice for girls and women, through delivery of STEM career days at an employer’s place of work, featuring role models, workshops and panel discussions.
Featuring a suite of engagement activities promoting careers in Chemistry to girls from low socio-economic communities in South Wales in partnership with the University of South Wales and ITV Wales.
Providing training, mentoring and role shadowing opportunities to women, building their confidence and skills to help them achieve their first board position and supporting boards to become more inclusive and diverse.
Emma proudly holds Non-Executive Director roles with United Welsh and its subsidiary Celtic Horizons, fulfilling the Group’s corporate governance accountabilities, strategy and policy framework.