Our Team
Emily Gercke
Senior Manager, Portfolio Operations
As Senior Manager, Portfolio Operations, Emily builds and stewards the operational infrastructure that enables Elemental to deploy capital effectively, support founders, and strengthen organizational resilience.
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In her role as Senior Manager of Portfolio Operations, Emily oversees the systems and processes that form the backbone of Elemental’s investment engine. She leads investment forecasting and disbursement, manages contracting workflows, and maintains core data infrastructure to ensure teams have reliable information and founders experience a trusted, high-quality partnership.
Emily is responsible for investment budget management, supporting program spend, and monitoring grant compliance to ensure alignment with funder requirements and organizational commitments. She plans and executes portfolio company onboarding, manages ongoing portfolio communications, and leads annual data collection efforts to maintain accurate performance insights and strengthen engagement across the portfolio.
Emily also supports portfolio services and coordinates portfolio-facing events that deepen relationships across Elemental’s community of entrepreneurs, funders, and partners. Her operational rigor and attention to detail reinforce accountability, cohesion, and long-term resilience across the organization.
Prior to Elemental
Emily spent more than a decade as a geologist and project manager leading complex environmental projects throughout the U.S. and Canada. During this period, she held a variety of roles across GSI Service Group, Arcadis North America & Canada, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Emily managed over $2M in federal environmental contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, Navy, and Air Force, as well as more than $1.5M in private-sector remediation projects. Her work centered on groundwater resources, contaminated sites, and remediation. She led technical analysis alongside reporting and budgeting, subcontractor oversight, health and safety management, permitting, data interpretation, and community engagement. Emily holds an M.S. in Geology from Indiana University and is a licensed Professional Geologist.
Outside of the office
Emily lives in Madison, WI, where she balances time between working out and coaching at her local gym, training handstands with circus friends, and chasing her energetic 9-year-old around ice rinks and baseball fields. When she’s not upside down or cheering from the sidelines, she loves cross-country skiing, backpacking, and spending lazy afternoons in a hammock.