About Emily:
After working in television and film as a writer, producer, and director in Los Angeles, Emily and her husband relocated to Pittsburgh, enabling her to take an extended hiatus to focus on their two children and the increasingly urgent social, economic, and environmental concerns about which she was passionate. For more than a decade, Emily founded and ran No Crayon Left Behind. This unique nonprofit used a sustainable business model to expand educational and creative opportunities for women and children experiencing poverty while promoting green practices and programming. Following its closure due to the Covid pandemic, Emily continued to proactively pursue policy changes through community activism and political advocacy.
Recently a candidate for the state legislature, Emily uses her knowledge of state government and a significant political network to serve the missions of various community organizations and nonprofits for which she serves as a board member and volunteer. She joined the board of STJP after witnessing countless friends, colleagues, and family members struggle to address mental illness and substance use disorders without adequate resources, support, or societal compassion. She feels privileged to be part of an organization whose work is already reducing ignorance and saving lives.
Professionally, Emily returned to the entertainment industry, splitting her time between the various colleges at which she is an adjunct professor and collaborating as a writer/producer on upcoming film and television projects. Emily holds a BA from Columbia University, an MFA from UCLA’s Graduate School of Film and Television, and is near completion of her MPM at Carnegie Mellon University.
