Assistant Director, Educational Resources
United States Baseball Federation (USA Baseball)

Tell us a little about your career journey.

During college, I volunteered in Wake Forest University's Athletic Communications Office, where I gained a lot of media relations and game operations experience. After graduating, I interned at USA Baseball in Communications and Sports Information, and one position led to another and another, and eventually to my current full-time position as Assistant Director of Educational Resources. Along the way, I’ve had so many incredible experiences, including serving as the on-site media contact for the USA Baseball National Championships, a month-long tournament that hosts nearly 15,000 amateur baseball players, and serving as the the 2016 USA Baseball Women’s National Team’s Press Officer and Sports Information Director during trials, training, and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's Baseball World Cup in South Korea.

What you do now as Assistant Director of Educational Resources at USA Baseball?

I am responsible for creating all of USA Baseball's Spanish-language and educational initiatives content and posting it to the web and social media. I also oversee the USA Baseball Sport Development Blog and assist in supporting Major League Baseball on youth initiatives. Recently, I was also appointed as the secretary of the WBSC International Youth Commission.

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

My job was created specifically for me, so I enjoy just about everything about it! I love that I am challenged and given opportunities to learn on a daily basis, and that I am able to combine my two loves of Spanish and baseball. Before I was hired, USA Baseball did not produce any Spanish-language content or have any Spanish-speaking staff members, so it is gratifying to know that I am not only providing a unique service to the organization, but also to a very large, yet underserved Spanish-speaking population within the game of baseball.

What is your favorite thing about Visi?

I love the deep and rich tradition that bonds the whole community together. Because of this, every time I step back on campus I feel like I’m home. I have such fond memories of high school and enjoy going back to visit, and it seems like the majority of the people I know who attended other schools cannot say the same.

Why did you choose the school?

My family likes to joke that I went to Visi “because Gonzaga doesn’t take girls.” All of the men in my family went to Gonzaga. On a more serious note, however, I chose to attend Visitation because I was attracted to the close-knit community and the challenging academic environment.

What impact has the all-girls educational environment had on your life?

One of the benefits of an all-girls school is that every leadership position is held by a girl, so even if you yourself do not hold a leadership position, you are still surrounded by positive role models of strong female leadership. I think that girls at an all-girls school graduate with the expectation that they will be leaders. I am fully aware of the reality of predominantly male leadership, particularly in the sports industry, but I graduated from Visitation armed with the tools and the leadership experience that I needed to “break into” a male-dominated field with confidence in my abilities.

How did Visitation prepare you for college and your career?

Visitation was an inspirational environment where I learned the importance of “Being who you are and being that well.” I felt comfortable being myself at school, which allowed me to focus my energies on learning. As such, my academic transition from high school to college was far less grueling than many of my college classmates’. The high academic standards I developed at Visitation gave way to the high career aspirations I developed in college. By far my most gratifying experiences, both in academia and in my career, have been those in which I was challenged, either by an outside force or simply by myself. I refuse to take the easy way out of anything. Every time I overcome a challenge, I feel even more confident that I can overcome the next one, and as my confidence in my abilities grows, so do my aspirations.

What role did the school play in developing your writing skills?

Visi played a major role in developing my writing skills. I felt as if I was already writing at the collegiate level before I even got to college. As a college freshman, I also joined the staff of the student newspaper as a sports writer. The only female member of the sports staff at the time, I soon began to beat out upperclassmen for high-profile, above-the-fold assignments thanks to the writing skills I had honed in high school; the following year, I was named Sports Editor.

What activities do you do outside of work?

I am in grad school part-time, so that takes up most of my non-work time. But I also like going to games (football, hockey, basketball, and yes, even baseball!), reading, cooking, yoga, traveling, and exercising.

Emma holds a B.A. with a double major in Politics and International Affairs and Spanish and a minor in Linguistics from Wake Forest University. She is currently pursuing an M.S. in Translation with an English-to-Spanish concentration at New York University.