Emily has long been involved in state, local and national initiatives and policy related to autism. In 2008 Emily was spotlighted as a “Know the Signs” Campaign Champion by the Centers for Disease Control.

As an active member of the Senate Select Committee on Autism, Emily was recognized by the California State Senate for her contributions to Committee on Equity and Diversity. She also served as co-chairman of the Transition Work Group for North Los Angeles County. Emily was actively involved with the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism which helped pass legislation for training peace officers about autism. She provided data from her thesis on Latino families of children with autism to the Commissioners.

Emily is the past President of the Autism Society of America, Los Angeles, and a founder of SCAAN, the Santa Clarita Autism Asperger Network.  She collaborated with Fiesta Educativa to create and conduct the Autism Parent Education Program (APEP) and raise autism awareness in the Latino community. Emily is a collaborator with Dr. Sandy Magaña on a new project, Parents Taking Action, to help Latino immigrant parents of children with autism. Emily pursued extensive training to become a professional advocate. She assisted more than 300 families in navigating the educational and service systems over the course of a decade.