Emily Jaeger

Board Member

Emily Jaeger is excited to serve on the Board of Directors of The LGBTQ Center of the Cape Fear Coast. She is a poet and cultural journalist investigating the intersection of identity and the arts. Her articles have appeared in Insider, Gay Parent Magazine, Parents, News Courier, JTA and more. She holds an M.F.A in creative writing (UMB 2017) and her first collection of poetry is The Evolution of Parasites (Sibling Rivalry Press 2023).

Emily is also the rebbetzin (Yiddish for Rabbi’s spouse) of Rabbi Bender at Bnai Israel Congregation where she models full celebration of LGBTQ+ people in Jewish life. Emily occasionally uses her undergraduate degree in Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Brandeis 2011) for lectures at Bnai Israel and UNCW’s OLLI to “mythbust” contemporary notions about women’s and LGBTQ+ history in Judaism and the bible.

As a longtime advocate of LGBTQ+ rights, Emily has used her career and writing as a platform for equitable treatment, inclusivity, and dignity for the LGBTQ+ community. Before turning to journalism, she worked 10+ years in education, including a fellowship at Colgate University, service in the Peace Corps (Paraguay, 2011-13), preschool, and virtual STEM education for elementary and secondary school.

She is especially interested in intersectionality, fostering LGBTQ+ joy, and making the Cape Fear Coastal region a safe and welcoming home for the LGBTQ+ community.