Emily Hoefling is the founder and co-director of Lifelong Learners, a curriculum and consulting organization that supports elementary schools serving low-income and underserved student populations. She is the author of the Lifelong Readers Curriculum, which is used in 25 schools across 10 states. The curriculum strives to create skilled, confident readers and to foster a lifelong love of reading.

Before starting Lifelong Learners, Emily was the founding principal of Leadership Prep Canarsie in Brooklyn, a public charter school serving 300 students in Grades K-3. Emily started her teaching career as a NYC TFA corps member in 2007.

Currently, Emily and her partner are traveling to different countries, visiting schools, interviewing teachers and leaders, and sharing what they are learning through articles and videos. To learn more about teaching from around the world, check out their work at noborders.education.

“I am a deeper thinker and a better writer because of my degree in Religious Studies, but I believe I am also a better person. The classes I took, and more importantly the professors I had, pushed me to embrace ambiguity and complexity and to resist the allure of simple answers that can never do justice to humanity’s quest for truth and meaning.

I am also better because of the relationships I formed. To this day, some of my closest friends are fellow classmates, and the single most influential mentor in my life continues to be Professor Furey. This type of community, unusual in many departments, is one of the most fulfilling and unique parts of studying religion at IU.”