Since September 2002, Emma Näslund-Hadley is an education specialist in the Education Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC. She leads and collaborates in the design and execution of a wide spectrum of education sector projects. She is the coordinator of the Bank's efforts to improve mathematics and natural science education.

Between 1999 and 2002 she was a political advisor at the European Parliament working on education policies, gender, and labor market issues. Previously she held positions with the United Nations and the Swedish International Development Agency, doing design, execution, and monitoring of education projects in Central America, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba. She is the author of papers in peer reviewed journals and institutional reports.

Emma has a master's degree in international economics and finance from the University of Linkoping and a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University.