Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson

Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, is the President of Auburn Theological Seminary, a multifaith seminary that equips leaders with the organizational skills and spiritual resilience required to create a lasting, positive impact in local communities, on the national stage, and around the world. Prior to Auburn, she was the Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Her leadership among New York’s advocates and organizers has centered on advocacy for children. As Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund – New York, she worked with advocates to name and address New York’s cradle to prison pipeline crisis; to prioritize youth justice within New York’s diverse faith communities; and, to close abusive youth prisons redirecting resources to invest in youth and their communities. She was the founding Executive Director of Girls Incorporated of New York City, and Executive Vice President of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the nation’s first community development corporation. Rev. Jordan-Simpson has often been called upon to provide “quiet” emergency executive leadership and interim management for New York’s social service agencies, ensuring stability for African American children and at-risk youth. Committed to ending child sexual abuse, she is a licensed facilitator of the Darkness to Light Stewards of Children® program.

A graduate of Fisk University, Union Theological Seminary, and Drew Theological Seminary, she serves on the pastoral team at the Concord Baptist Church of Christ, and on the Boards of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York, FPWA, Faith Matters Network, and Western States Center.