As Director of Community and Communications, Emma oversees the Community Engagement and the Communications departments at HISA. In Community Engagment, Emma works with our Sports Development Coordinator to manage the extra- and co-curricular student communities at HISA, including sporting, clubs, societies, and the Student Networks; the team also works with external community organisations to provide additional opportunities to students like community sports, community support, active travel, and volunteer opportunities. In Communications, Emma works with our Communications Manager to develop our social media, newsletter, website, and external communications. Lastly, Emma chairs HISA's EDI Committee and leads HISA's provision of awareness campaigns and activities supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Emma has spent most of her life working in education and charity sectors. She has a PhD in English and three masters in adjacent fields. She taught visual and written rhetoric for 6 years at the University of Arizona and has served as Executive Editor for two publications. She spent two years in Panama with Peace Corps, supporting teachers to develop new strategies for the teaching of language. During her time in Scotland, she was a Director of Visit Mearns, a community-tourism charity, and a Collections Specialist for the Grassic Gibbon Centre. She also led social media marketing and website development for two Aberdeenshire charities with a strong focus on community outreach. She is deeply passionate about equity and diversity and spends much of her free time reading or wandering across the dramatic scenery of the north coast with her crazy rescue dog.
Contact us by emailing us at HISA@uhi.ac.uk