Emma Walsh

I help local charities strengthen their sustainability through strategy and business development.
My work starts with understanding what an organisation is genuinely good at — its strengths, expertise, relationships and local insight. From there, I help organisations make sense of opportunities, challenges and competing priorities, developing practical approaches that build on what already works.
I work across strategy, service development, social enterprise, fundraising and business development, supporting organisations to develop sustainable services, strengthen income and navigate change. My focus is always on delivering practical outcomes that reflect an organisation’s ambitions, capacity and values.

Clients

I work primarily with local charities, community organisations and partnerships.
Clients typically bring me in when they need additional capacity or expertise to support growth, secure funding, develop new services or navigate organisational change.
This includes organisations preparing for commissioning opportunities, developing partnerships, reviewing their future direction, diversifying income, exploring merger opportunities or strengthening business development activity.
I also undertake interim assignments where organisations need senior-level support to lead a specific programme of work, strengthen business development functions or deliver strategic priorities.
Whatever the starting point, my role is to help organisations move from ideas and aspirations to practical plans, stronger income and sustainable outcomes.

Qualifications

Carbon Literacy Certificate – April 2026

Experience

Over the past year I have worked with charities and partnerships on strategy, service development, fundraising and business development.
This has included supporting a partnership of by-and-for organisations to develop a shared vision, service models, co-design frameworks and risk management approaches; producing merger plans for two health charities; developing fundraising strategies; and developing a strategy for a counselling service, reviewing its future direction, identifying opportunities to broaden access and diversify income, and strengthening its long-term sustainability.
Alongside this, I have helped organisations strengthen the foundations needed to support growth and change. Recent work has included improving tender readiness through policy and process development, aligning approaches with commissioner expectations and social value requirements, simplifying risk management processes, and leading the specification and implementation of a CRM to support service delivery, contract management and organisational relationships.
I also work extensively on bid development and bid writing. Over the past year I have secured more than £3.5 million in statutory contracts and major grants, including over £1.5 million for mental health services in Leeds and a £2 million contract for a partnership of by-and-for organisations supporting victim survivors.
Alongside consultancy, I undertake interim assignments across business development, strategy and senior leadership, helping organisations navigate change, strengthen functions and deliver strategic priorities.
My experience spans charities, social enterprises and government. In senior government roles, I led programmes of change that connected policymakers with frontline organisations and communities, creating new ways for different perspectives and expertise to shape decision-making and improve outcomes.