Emma Feeney, who was promoted to marketing and events coordinator of the Esplanade Association this month, was admittedly unfamiliar with the nonprofit before April of 2019, when, shortly before earning a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Suffolk University, she was searching for employment and learned that the group was seeking a summer intern.
A native of Monroe, Conn., who moved to Boston to attend college and now resides in Back Bay, Feeney said her previous exposure to the Esplanade had been limited to exercising and meeting friends there, as well as attending one Fourth of July concert by the Boston Pops in the park, but a visit to the Esplanade Association’s website quickly educated her on the mission and culture of the nonprofit group that has cared for its namesake park in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the past 20 years, and which, she said, immediately struck her as “inviting, exciting and rewarding.”
Feeney joined the Esplanade Association as a full-time programming and marketing intern in June of 2019 (although she was first offered the role two moths earlier) and was hired as the programming and marketing coordinator that September. She now serves as the lead on all of the group’s digital and print communications, such as maintaining its social media accounts and dispatching its e-newsletters, as well as designing its print and digital materials, like the Esplanade Association’s annual report and signage around the park.
“One of the best parts of my role is I get to tell the story of the Esplanade to different audiences,” said Feeney, who is also the primary graphic designer for all of the Esplanade Association’s digital and printed materials. “And I’m excited to continue to share the story of the Esplanade and our organization’s work in bettering this beautiful, historic and essential park in Boston.”
Feeney, who just completed her master’s in communications at Suffolk, has also assisted in planning events that take place both virtually and in the park, including the Esplanade Association’s annual 5K and GroundBeat concert series (both of which went virtual for the first time last year), along with the Frost Fit winter fitness series, which is presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Through her new role at the Esplanade Association, Feeney will now be more involved in supporting the organization’s development department in planning major fundraising events, including their annual Moondance Gala, which has historically been the organization’s biggest annual fundraising event, as well as the Summer Dock Party and the Annual Meeting.
Moreover, when it was deemed safe last fall, Feeney assumed responsibility of the Esplanade Association’s volunteer programming and went on to successfully coordinate 23 volunteer days in the park last year.
During her time with the Esplanade Association, Feeney has assisted various departments of the organization with myriad projects and initiatives, and throughout it all, she has been consistently impressed by the shared sense of dedication and devotion that all of her colleagues within the organization have for the park.
“Everyone I work with now at the Esplanade Association and everyone I worked with in the past, including staff, donors, volunteers and the board, has been passionate and motivated in working towards the same goals of making the Esplanade a better place for today and the future,” she said. “We really are a team.”