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About em4
We are a social enterprise of organisational development and capacity-building specialists with a focus on strategy, fundraising & leadership in non-profit organisations.
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Values
Our Story
em4 was established in 2019 by three social entrepreneurs from social impact and corporate environments to respond to a specific need in the social impact sector – capacity building.
em4 is a capacity-building social enterprise. We believe that capacity building encompasses everything that is needed to bring an SIO – NGO, Association, Foundation, Social Enterprise – to the next level of operational, programmatic, financial and organisational maturity in order to fulfil its Mission and maximise its social impact.
We are committed to building strong, resilient and sustainable organisations that produce meaningful social outcomes. We do this by focusing on key capacity areas that are critical to enabling the organisation’s wellbeing and which ultimately lead to better outcomes for its service users and donors.
em4 is driven by an ideal, which is that SIOs, wherever they are in the world, need access to competencies and business acumen to drive their missions sustainably. We believe that inequalities need to be addressed to ensure that all organisations have access to high level opportunities and talent to help them increase their social impact.
We work directly with SIOs and with funders who believe that they have an important part to play in developing the capabilities of their grantees.
Co-founders
Donna has more than 20 years’ experience as an advocate for social-impact and economic-development causes. She has acted at all levels: private enterprise, private and public donors, governments, and intergovernmental organisations.
She has directed a business-driven international trade association, and has been responsible for strategic planning and fundraising in non-profit organisations.
For the past 10 years as an independent adviser and consultant, Donna has been dedicated to NGOs and social enterprises involved with human, environmental and health rights. In 2019, she reached out to her talented colleagues to co-found em4, fulfilling her dream of building operational competencies in the social impact sector.
Donna’s educational qualifications include a Masters of Laws in international business law and Master of Business Administration. She has lived outside her native United States for 40 years, and now splits her time between France and Switzerland. She is on the board of a grassroots development organisation and a member of the Swiss Alpine Club.
Ajay is an organisational development specialist passionate about supporting the growth and sustainability of civil society organisations globally to increase their social impact.
With significant contributions in the social impact and public sectors he brings a breadth of experience to support the development of organisations in the areas of strategic planning and overhaul, income generation for sustainable growth, leadership development, and governance.
The portfolio of his work has ranged from large international institutions to smaller community based organisations, supporting them to review and re-engineer their strategic interventions and maximise impact.
He has held non-executive director positions with national and international charities and with the UK’s National Health Service, headed up a charitable foundation with investments to develop the health economy in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ajay resides in London, England.
Niall is passionate about helping people and organisations fulfil their potential and, using technology, to make learning meritocratic, accessible and affordable for all.
Since graduating from Dundee University with a BSC (Hons) in Economics and Electronic/Electrical Engineering, he has headed up Change Programmes, Innovation, Operations, Business Improvement, Customer Service and Learning & Development, in FTSE 100 companies as well as startups across the UK for almost 30 years.
Finally giving in full time to his entrepreneurial spirit, and after forming a digital creative agency in 2004, Niall founded grapl ltd., in 2014, a digital first consultancy practice delivering a broad range of organisational development services including Leadership and People Development, eLearning, Digital Transformation and Web & Graphic design.
Niall resides in Perthshire, Scotland with his partner and 2 youngest sons.
Regional Partners
For the past 5 years, Olivier has worked closely with associations, foundations, and local and regional government authorities to train and accompany them in defining their fundraising strategies and developing their business models.
His experience extends over 20 years in the public sector working in one of France’s largest regional governmental departments – the Grand Lyon authority – and managing the regional economic division of a chamber of commerce. Olivier has expertise in public/private partnerships, public sector-funded project management at both national and European levels, and impact analysis.
Olivier believes that each new client opens a new horizon of challenges and discoveries. He is passionate about developing collective intelligence and supporting the collaborative construction of innovative solutions. He has worked extensively in creative and technical team animation and motivation with Thiagi training games.
Olivier holds the French Fundraising Certificate awarded by ESSEC international business school and has a Masters degree in urban and resource planning from the Institut d’Urbanisme de Grenoble. His undergraduate degree is from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Lyon.
His collaboration as an em4 Regional Partner for France began in 2020.