Emily Kaiser, GIVEN ’21

Please share a little about yourself – feel free to include a fun fact!

I grew up in Moorhead, MN and graduated from the University of Mary with both my Bachelors and Masters of Business Administration. My faith and heart for service led me to work for Down Home, a growing local non-profit serving families emerging from homelessness. In my role as Director of Mission Outreach, I have the privilege of inviting the community to be a powerful part of the dynamic Down Home story. My greatest love is my family – my husband Nathan, and two children James (3) and Eloise (1.5). Outside of work, I love teaching fitness dance fitness classes and planning gatherings with my faith community.

Describe your professional work. How were you led to this? What are you passionate about?

After working in HR at a large corporate company for a number of years, I felt a pull to find a role where I was able to better utilize my strengths to serve others. Around this time, I was introduced to a growing non-profit organization in our community, Down Home, that was seeking an event planner. I jumped at the opportunity and never looked back. I was able to join full-time and lead all outreach efforts including fundraising, marketing, and event planning.

Our mission is to empower lives and stabilize those emerging from homelessness by furnishing homes, strengthening connections and transforming communities. Through this mission, we have the privilege of entering into our clients lives at a vulnerable time and providing them a transformative fresh start through the gift of a fully-furnished space and a community of support. I am passionate about this work as we get to be boots on the ground and the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need.

What are the personal strengths that you’ve been given and how do you utilize them?

One of my greatest strengths is being able to connect with new people and inspire them to action. I have the blessing of being able to utilize this gift each day through my professional work. I get to meet new people, share about our mission, and activate them to get involved. I also use these strengths in my personal realm to help build up our Catholic faith community. You can generally find me preparing for an upcoming faith-centered gathering that I am hosting to invite people to grow in their faith and in community.

What women inspire you, and why?

I am blessed to be inspired by the women I am surrounded with each day. My leader and Executive Director is an incredible Catholic woman who instills in each of us to do our best, and let God do the rest. She reminds us to Whom we belong, and Who ultimately is in control. In the ever-changing world of non-profit work, this steadfast faith is inspiring and grounding. My mother is another woman that inspires me – throughout my life I have seen her as both a working mother and a stay-at-home mother. She taught me that you can do both and still be a fabulous support to your family.

Are there friends and mentors that you depend upon? How do they support you?

A few years ago, when I had moved back to my hometown to get married, I found myself with a lack of faith-filled community. I prayed to God every day that I would find a community of women to walk with on our journey in faith. Even specifically, I prayed to find women who I could be with on a Saturday morning to enjoy a great community and support each other in faith. Years later, God answered this prayer in a way beyond my imagination and I am blessed with a bible study/mothers group of 10 Catholic women who support each other along the journey. These are women who show up for each other, with prayers, a meal train, a laugh, a shoulder to cry on, and truly know what it means to be a village.

Prayer is essential for everyone, but especially for women who are active in the life and mission of the Church. Do you have any favorite devotions or prayers?

Jesus, I trust in You. This is a prayer I pray while rocking my babies in the middle of the night, before a difficult conversation at work, and while driving in the car between meetings. When I have a bit more time, my favorite prayer is the Litany of Trust from the Sister of Life. It is a constant reminder, in all things, trust in the Lord is foundational.

Do you have a favorite inspirational quote?

“Be who God meant you do be and you will set the world on fire.” – St. Caterine of Siena

“The world does not need what women have, it needs what women are.” – Edith Stein

What were your key takeaways from the GIVEN Forum?

As a highly-ambitious woman, I was drawn into the mission of GIVEN and the focus on the unique gifts and strengths each of us bring to the world. GIVEN was life-changing in the sense of finding a huge community of women who are aligned in passions and faith. I was inspired by all of the speakers and their steadfast trust in the Lord’s plan for their lives. My biggest takeaway from the conference was the importance of prayer. To actively pursue the Lord’s call for your life, you must maintain a constant posture of prayer.

What was your GIVEN action plan? Describe its mission, audience, and impact.

The vision for my initial Action Plan was to create and implement a program to empower young women with the truth of the beauty of their femininity. This program would focus on an integrated approach to women’s health through the mind, body, and soul. The vision for this plan would be an increase of young women in my community having a concrete understanding of how they were designed and feel empowered to embrace their authentic femininity to become the woman God created them to be.

Could you tell us a bit about what motivated or led you to develop this action plan? Was this something that you had on your heart prior to this past year or was it something you developed through the GIVEN program?:

As a graduate of the public school system, I saw a significant gap in the messaging of health education, especially to young girls. I see many young women who feeling at war with their bodies and without reliable resources or community to turn to. As I entered adulthood and marriage, I experienced a disheartening lack of openness to life and appreciation of the unique and intentional way we have each been designed.

How did you grow throughout the year as you worked with a mentor on your action plan? Were there any moments where you had doubts or felt like you had taken on too much of a challenge? If so, how did you overcome them?

As I worked through my year of mentorship, I experienced a few life changes including welcoming a new baby and a change in job. My capacity to pursue my action plan in the timeline I had hoped changed from when I originally set forth on this path. The beauty in this process was learning to trust in God’s timing. I was able to start a few initiatives for young adults in my area, and even though I wasn’t able to follow through as I hoped, now others have stepped up to continue those ideas. My letting go allowed space for someone else’s yes. Now, four years and two kids later, I am coming back to some of these passions and able to pursue them in the way that is so clearly God’s plan.

What were some of the fruits you saw from your action plan? What did you find most fulfilling in this process?

One of the greatest fruits I saw from my action plan was the support to take myself seriously. I have always had desires placed on my heart to make a difference in the world, but not the steps and confidence to understand that they were placed there for a reason. In working through my action plan, I was able to more clearly and effectively discern the ideas I had, while also not getting stuck in the planning phase and taking concrete action.