Bio
Emma joined the ACLU of Maine in July 2025. As a paralegal, she supports the legal team with all facets of their litigation and advocacy work. On a typical day, she can be found preparing filings, assisting with public records requests, or communicating with prospective clients.
Emma graduated in Spring of 2025 from Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied Global Studies, French and Creative Writing. Her capstone thesis was titled “Exporting Punitivism: How U.S. Policy Shapes Nayib Bukele’s Carceral State in El Salvador." Outside of class, she was a writing tutor, a peer mental health counselor, and president of The Sensasians, an Asian-music a cappella group. She also co-founded Missouri Prison Stories, a literary journal that publishes the work of incarcerated writers and artists in Missouri.
Before joining the ACLU of Maine, Emma’s work experience largely centered around anti-carceral work. As the Legal Programs Intern at the Illinois Prison Project, she proofread clemency petitions, created re-entry plans for clients, and collaborated with the IT department to streamline time-consuming legal processes. She also served as a Team Lead at the ACLU of Missouri, where she supervised a group of ten interns who processed and responded to all civil rights complaints received by ACLU-MO.
Emma is originally from Cleveland, Ohio. In her spare time, she loves trying new vegetarian recipes, curating ultra-niche Spotify playlists, and ranking every boba place in the greater Portland area.