Emily is a married layperson with two young children. She is Coordinator of Outreach and Formation with Kolbe House Jail Ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In this role, Emily is responsible for parish outreach and education, ministry to families affected by incarceration, and formation of volunteers participating in faith-based accompaniment ministry in Cook County jail. She entered this ministry after being introduced to restorative justice through a practicum accompanying youth in juvenile detention with Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation and learning from her husband’s incarceration experience as a Mexican immigrant.

Her past professional ministries include parish family faith formation in Chicago and youth and children’s ministry as an Incarnate Word Missionary in Chimbote, Peru. Both ministries informed her current passion for developing parishes as primary sources for relationship and community development. She earned an MA in Intercultural Ministry from Catholic Theological Union and a BA in Economics and Journalism from Creighton University.