As Emma Wolfe ’01 prepares to assume the role of Director of Intergovermental Affairs in Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s administration, she talks with Capital NY about her new position and the path her professional life has taken, starting with her early days as a student activist while an undergrad at Barnard:
“Wolfe was a Barnard College urban studies major in 1998 when [Matthew] Shepard, a University of Wyoming student, was killed in an anti-gay attack.
"That moment in college was sort of searing in my mind," Wolfe told Capital in a 30-minute interview after Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio named her to her new post, which she will assume Jan. 1.
"For me just personally, and I don't know how to go into more detail on it, there are certain times when you're doing that kind of activism and you're become more politically aware and socially aware and at the same time going through your own kind of journey," said Wolfe, who is a lesbian. "There are moments when those kind of things converge and obviously, for me, that was one."”
