Emma de Closset is the Chief Executive of UK Community Foundations (UKCF), a place-based network which invests in communities through local giving and philanthropy.

Prior to joining UKCF in January 2025, Emma was a Director in the Cabinet Office. She led operational and policy delivery for international summits, serving as the Chief Operating Officer for the UK’s G7 Presidency in 2021 and the Prime Minister’s Deputy Representative for the AI Safety Summit in 2023.

She was also instrumental in the creation of the National Leadership Centre for public sector leaders (now part of the Leadership College for Government). Emma has served twice in the Prime Minister’s Office:  first, as a No10 policy advisor during the coalition years, returning in 2017 to lead No10 special projects.

In between her civil service roles, she worked for the Boston Consulting Group in New York City and was Director of Strategy for a major youth programme in the UK. Emma has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Queen’s College, Oxford, and she held a von Clemm Fellowship at the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at Harvard.