Ken Emerson, Communications Advisor, is the principal editor and writer of the Foundation’s internal and external communications. In addition to creating communications materials, he helps develop and implement EMCF’s communications strategy and supports the president’s relations with the philanthropic community and government policymakers. Before joining the Foundation in 2008, Emerson devoted more than a decade to helping nonprofits such as Massachusetts General Hospital, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Harvard University, the Social Science Research Council, and the Alliance for Justice develop effective branding, communications and fundraising strategies and materials.

Emerson earned a BA from Harvard and an MA from Yale, both in English, and taught at Princeton as the first recipient of the Philip Anschutz Distinguished Visiting Fellowship in American Studies. The former articles editor of the New York Times Magazine and op-ed editor of New York Newsday, he has written for publications ranging from Rolling Stone to the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture and Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era, editor of Stephen Foster & Co.: Lyrics of America’s First Great Popular Songs, and co-editor of Rethinking the Urban Agenda: Reinvigorating the Liberal Tradition in New York City and Urban America.