Emma Mayerson got her community service start at the Jewish
Coalition for Literacy in Berkeley,
CA. As a junior high school
student, Emma Mayerson volunteered with the Jewish Coalition for Literacy,
tutoring kindergarten students in reading. Deciding to take more of a
leadership role, Emma Mayerson elected to start a pen pal program at her
school, in which junior high students were matched up with elementary school
buddies, and exchanged letters over the summer to foster writing skills.
Emma Mayerson also started the Generations program at the
Jewish Coalition for Literacy. In this program, based on a similar initiative
started in Cincinnati,
Jewish elders were matched with youth to facilitate community among age groups
while also improving literacy skills. Emma Mayerson received the Youth
Leadership Award from the Youth Leadership Institute in San Francisco for her pursuit of literacy
improvement in her community.
In college at Tufts
University, Emma Mayerson
helped form the Jumbo Janitor Alliance. This student organization worked to
create an alliance between Tufts students and janitors to demand better pay and
other labor concerns for the janitorial staff at Tufts. Emma Mayerson was
inducted into the Honos Civicus Society for her involvement in community
building and service at Tufts.
After graduation, Emma Mayerson moved back to the Bay Area,
where she has been working as the Program Director for Alliance
for Girls, a new organization that connects local groups in pursuit of the
improvement of girls’ lives in California.
Other organizations that Emma Mayerson has worked with include Bend the Arc
(previously known as Jewish Funds for Justice), the Impact Grants Initiative
Board at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Eva Gunther
Foundation, and the Women’s Foundation of California. Emma Mayerson has held
positions such as community organizing resident, development assistant, and
board member at a multitude of organizations.
