Emma Winberg
Director of Mayday Rescue; wife of James Le Mesurier; former FCO diplomat and co-founder of Incostrat
| Emma Winberg | |
|---|---|
| Image | |
| Born | June 1980 |
| Died | |
| Nationality | British |
| Residence | |
| Occupation | Strategic communications; stabilisation programming; director |
| Known for | Director and Chief Impact Officer, Mayday Rescue; wife of James Le Mesurier; co-founder of Incostrat |
| Parents | |
| Spouse(s) | James Le Mesurier (m. 2018; d. 2019) |
| Children | |
| Sibling(s) | |
| Education | |
| Predecessor | |
| Website | |
Emma Winberg (also known as Emma Le Mesurier; full name Emma Hedvig Christina Winberg) is a British former diplomat and strategic-communications specialist who served as a director and Chief Impact Officer of Mayday Rescue, the principal Western implementing partner for the White Helmets (Syria Civil Defence). She is the widow of James Le Mesurier, founder of Mayday Rescue, whom she married in 2018. Winberg previously worked for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and co-founded the strategic-communications firm Incostrat with Paul Tilley.[1][2]
Early career and Foreign Office
Winberg (born June 1980) worked as a derivatives trader before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Her postings included Kabul, Damascus, East Jerusalem, Istanbul and Erbil, with shorter assignments in Yemen and East Africa. She is fluent in English, Swedish and Arabic. Skoll Foundation materials describe her background as “security, stabilisation and peace building in states that are entering, enduring and emerging from conflict,” followed by work in strategic communications and community resilience.[1][3]
In a 2023 Politico interview she described having worked for the British government in Damascus and later stated several times that she had worked for MI6; when asked to comment she neither confirmed nor denied the claim but confirmed prior employment by the FCO.[4]
Incostrat
In November 2014 Winberg co-founded Innovative Communications and Strategy (Incostrat) with Paul Tilley, a military-intelligence veteran and former director of Strategic Communications for the UK Ministry of Defence in the Middle East and North Africa. Incostrat positioned itself as one of three FCO partners working on media surrounding the Syrian conflict and was funded by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. Critical accounts note the overlap between Incostrat, ARK and Mayday Rescue in the Syrian strategic-communications space.[2]
Mayday Rescue
Winberg met Le Mesurier in 2016 (having previously been briefly introduced at garden parties) and joined Mayday Rescue as a director, later serving as Chief Impact Officer. She has described the organisation as managing around 3,000 volunteers and focusing on community resilience. The couple married in July 2018 on Büyükada island in Istanbul.[5][6]
After Le Mesurier’s death on 11 November 2019 she publicly attributed the collapse of Mayday and the circumstances of his death to internal financial allegations raised by chief finance officer Johan Eleveld, stating that Eleveld “exploited a single mistake” and that she held him responsible for her husband’s death and the organisation’s subsequent failure.[7]
Financial scrutiny
Audits of Mayday Rescue examined cash withdrawals by Le Mesurier and Winberg, including a $50,000 emergency-fund withdrawal in 2018 connected to an evacuation operation and a personal loan of approximately $42,000 that Winberg said she repaid within a week (the balance offset against salary). Eleveld alleged excessive salaries, hardship payments and personal enrichment. The subsequent Grant Thornton forensic investigation concluded there was “no evidence of misappropriation of funds” and that “the cash withdrawals by James Le Mesurier and Emma Winberg were justified and are accounted for.” The UK FCDO stated that an independent investigation found no evidence of fraud or misuse of UK funds. Winberg was briefly suspended by Mayday’s lawyers after Le Mesurier’s death on the basis of Eleveld’s allegations.[6][8]
Later activities
Companies House records list Winberg as a director of Centre for Strategic Advantage Ltd (appointed 5 September 2025) and as a former director of Open Source Centre Limited (appointed 26 August 2024, resigned 14 November 2025). She has continued to speak publicly about Mayday Rescue and the White Helmets in interviews with major outlets.[3]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Skoll Foundation, Emma Winberg Skoll, accessed 10 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 RT, White Helmets founder Le Mesurier is now a mainstream saint, but leaked docs raise questions about his widow’s role RT, 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Companies House, Emma WINBERG Companies House, accessed 10 October 2026.
- ↑ Shannon Van Sant, Death in Istanbul: The untold story behind Syria’s White Helmets Politico, 19 April 2023.
- ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, Widow blames financial problems for ex-UK army officer’s death in Istanbul Hurriyet Daily News, 21 December 2020.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Guardian, How Syria’s disinformation wars destroyed the co-founder of the White Helmets The Guardian, 27 October 2020.
- ↑ Daily Mail, Haunting twist in the mystery of the death plunge hero Daily Mail, 19 December 2020.
- ↑ Der Spiegel, Deadly Intrigue: The Story of the Destruction of an Aid Organization Der Spiegel, 9 December 2021.