Gemma Blackburn

MENA Strategic Advisor

Gemma Blackburn is a former diplomat and senior policy, programme, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) specialist with over two decades of experience in foreign affairs and international development, including in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations (FCAS). Her diplomatic postings included Washington DC and Afghanistan.

As Altai’s MENA Strategic Advisor, Gemma supports the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Integrated Security Fund (ISF) teams at the British Embassies in Tunis and Tripoli. Working closely with the Deputy Strategic Advisor, she provides strategic advice on programme and portfolio coherence, alignment with UK policy priorities, evaluability, and the design of MEL tools and frameworks. She also leads the planning and delivery of reviews and evaluations, applying methodologies including Most Significant Change, Outcome Harvesting, and OECD DAC criteria. This work has included field deployments in Libya and Somalia.

In addition, Gemma serves as Team Leader and Key Expert supporting the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan, supporting donor coordination and providing analysis, strategic planning, and policy advice. She also oversees data requirements, communications materials, and high-level events aligned with EU core messaging, including the Team Europe Initiative on Afghan regional migration.

Prior to joining Altai, Gemma spent 22 years working across the UK and US governments. Her experience includes leading UK and US donor coordination on Afghanistan; supporting the UK's diplomatic relationships with the Gulf countries as Deputy Head of the Gulf Department; and working with multilateral organisations, international financial institutions, and bilateral donors to deliver major international conferences on Afghanistan, Syria, and Bangladesh in support of UK strategic objectives.

Gemma has deep expertise in FCAS policy and programme delivery and a highly adaptable skill set spanning people, policy, programme, and budget management. She has extensive experience leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes with a strong focus on results, value for money, and impact for the most marginalised. She also brings over 12 years of government communications experience, providing policy analysis, strategic communications advice, and briefing to senior officials and Ministers. She is recognised for her strong stakeholder management skills and extensive UK and international policy and communications networks.

Gemma is a graduate of the University of Sussex.