Emily Stoddard Furrow has worked on women's issues since she was 14 and attended the 150th anniversary of the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. At the time, she was a correspondent for blue jean magazine, a publication providing smarter media for and by girls, and was there to report on the event. She later became a columnist for the publication, and her work was published around the country through Knight-Ridder Tribune Newswire.

Born and raised in Grand Rapids, the experience of meeting women from around the world through writing had a deep effect on how she viewed her community and her work. Her writing and her desire to understand the real stories of women and girls became the catalysts for her interest in civic engagement and philanthropy.

A believer in acting locally and thinking globally, Emily loves opportunities to engage in small ways for big change. Her first opportunity to do this was as a member of Young Women for Change, a program of the Michigan Women's Foundation. She began working with the Michigan Women's Commission in 2004, when she was a student assistant before being appointed to the Commission.