Emily Zimmern

Growing up in Louisiana in the segregated South of the 1950s and 1960s, Emily Zimmern was inspired by the courageous example of participants in the civil rights movement who took great risks to bring freedom to places where it had never been before.  She has devoted a major part of her life to building bridges, working for equity and fairness, and ensuring that all people, regardless of background, identity, or geography, enjoy the opportunity to live life fully. Active in community affairs, Zimmern has held leadership positions on numerous local and state nonprofit boards and civic commissions. She served as Co-Chair of the City of Charlotte’s Immigrant Integration Task Force and Chair of the City’s Legacy Commission to review the status of monuments and streets named for slave owners and white supremacists.  She is also former President of the Charlotte Jewish Federation and Co-Chair of United Jewish Appeal’s Young Leadership Cabinet.  As President of Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina, Zimmern made sure that the museum addressed issues such as race relations, immigration, women’s equality, and LGBTQ rights. Over the course of her life, Zimmern came to understand that everyone’s history matters, shared stories build community, and confronting the unvarnished truth about the past can set individuals and communities free to change and build a better future.