Given to just a handful of British students each year who demonstrate "future promise of leadership, strength of character, keen mind, balanced judgement and a devotion to the democratic ideal", she is now undertaking a Master's in Public Policy at Harvard University.

Emily says: “I have very fond memories of my time at school and am very grateful for the role LEH played in helping me to dream big and follow my passions. I'm very excited to be building on the lessons learned in the classroom there and have just started my first term at Harvard where I'm focusing on addressing the challenges posed by climate change and the destruction of nature. I wanted to say a big thank you to the LEH community for the role it played in helping me to achieve this.”

She is living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the three year course, which is a joint degree in Public Policy will see her split her time between the Harvard Kennedy School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“At school, I think I always wanted to help others in some way and was part of the Charity Committee in the L6 where we raised money for Lessons for Life,” says Emily. “While studying at Oxford, it became very clear to me that if I wanted to make a difference, one of the most high-impact things I could do was work on climate change and the destruction of nature given the sheer scale of the threats. One of the reasons I wanted to go to Harvard specifically was that I was awarded the Harvard Book Prize in the L6 and I remember thinking that it would be incredible if I could study there one day. So, it really has been a dream for a long time! 

“I think what I really learned at LEH was how to step outside my comfort zone. Every teacher taught me how to think for myself and encouraged me to challenge myself both in the classroom and outside. I think this attitude of daring to fail and dreaming big has ultimately supported me in my successes to-date and it's part of the reason that I'm planning to found my own climate non-profit/ start-up after graduating from Harvard and Stanford.”

Emily has spent most of her career working in the social impact sector, most recently as a Venture Associate at Sustainable Ventures where she supported climate technology start-ups to develop their business and impact strategies.

Prior to joining Sustainable Ventures, she worked as a strategy consultant at Dalberg Advisors where she led strategy projects with clients ranging from WWF to the World Economic Forum. She gained a First-Class bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Philosophy from Oxford University. Alongside her studies, she founded a social enterprise, Pick-Me-Up Parcels, which delivered welfare parcels to fundraise for mental health charities. She also serves as a charity Trustee for the Bowman Fund.

Emily’s advice to pupils
“I would encourage them to believe in the power of their voices. We've seen throughout the world that young people have the ability to make government and business leaders listen to them. So, no matter how young or old you are, remember you have the ability to make a difference and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

“I know that we're facing many terrifying problems today (climate change, war in Ukraine, COVID-19 recovery, increasing global inequality etc) but by standing together, we can try and fix these challenges.”