Emily served as Deputy Assistant to the President, Senior Advisor on Migration, and Coordinator for the Southwest Border at the White House from 2023 to 2024. Before joining the White House, she was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and covered Cuba, Central America, and regional migration. Emily has also worked on legislative affairs at the National Security Council and as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Outside of government, she has deep experience in non-profit leadership, serving as the Executive Director for Center for Democracy in the Americas from 2017 to 2021. Emily is from Raleigh, North Carolina. She has an M.A. in International Economics with a concentration in Latin American Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia.
Mendrala was an event speaker at the Dialogue.
