Episode 11: Emily Rider Neill

Emily Rider Neill, Project Manager, HLS Beyond

In this episode, Emily tells us about when her family moved from Maryland to Massachusetts to live in Amherst, the Pioneer Valley or Happy Valleys as some would call it. We talk about her high school years in Amherst and her decision to leave home to go study in Ohio at Oberlin College, where she learned about religion, Buddhism, and feminist theology. After college, Emily went to Harvard Divinity School. We learn about her career journey. She worked at the Harvard Econ department, a college inside of a college as she says, located in the Littauer building, near the Science Center. She also worked for a startup consulting company for a while and later, went to work in MIT. Emily tells us about her work with Partners & Health during the pandemic and how she could see firsthand how MA responded. After that she found a job at HKS and later came to HLS where she manages HLS Beyond alongside Professor Zittrain. Listen to hear about some of the really cool programs are offered to our community.

Some fun facts about Emily:

-Her favorite animal is cats
-Her first concert was REM at an ice rink
-She once hiked alone  along the Lake District in England and survived being chased by a sheep

The goal of this podcast is to introduce folks to HLS staff members from across the community. You may recognize the names of some guests, and if you don’t, that’s okay!  We hope that you will tune in to learn more about your colleagues—what their role is, what makes them tick, and why they do the work that they do at HLS.  If you’re interested in being a guest, please let us know—we would love to hear your story. Our stories bring us together; we come from different backgrounds and serve all different roles, but our shared community at HLS unites us. Let us hear your story! 

Filed in: Tell Me Your Story