Emma Nothmann

Emma is a partner in The Bridgespan Group’s San Francisco office. Her clients include funders, innovative nonprofits, philanthropic and multi-sector collaboratives, and research centers. She has worked on a range of issues including strategic planning, racial equity, organizational design, and measurement and learning.

Emma co-leads Bridgespan's work focused on field building for equitable systems change and has co-authored numerous articles on the subject, including:  “Funding Field Catalysts from Origins to Revolutionizing the World,” “Field Catalyst Origin Stories: Lessons for Systems-Change Leaders,” “Field Building for Population-Level Change: How Funders and Practitioners Can Increase the Odds of Success,” and “How Philanthropy Can Support Systems-Change Leaders.”

Prior to Bridgespan, Emma worked deeply in the education sector – as the executive director for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Bay Area, and in strategy and partnership roles for Edmodo, a global social learning platform for K-12 students and teachers. She also built Booz & Company’s North American Education Practice, which grew to serve states, districts, charter management organizations, public-private partnerships, textbook publishers, and technology companies. Emma earned her BA degree from Harvard University in East Asian Studies. She and her husband live with their two daughters in Oakland, CA.