Emily grew up in Arkansas. She recently graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with degrees in political science and journalism. At UCA, she served as editor in chief of The Echo, the weekly student newspaper, where she reported on topics including COVID-19 policies, compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the arrests and trials of students protesting for transgender rights and allegations of discrimination on two athletics teams. She also wrote an undergraduate thesis about national security reporting. In 2023, she was a money-in-politics reporting intern with OpenSecrets.
