Emma Feeney: Where Learning and Mentoring Meet

Studies: Business Administration, marketing and finance concentrations, minor with the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program

Hometown: Snohomish, Wash.  

Aside from her enthusiastic academic endeavors, Emma Feeney (’23) has made quite an impact on the campus and greater Spokane community.

Coffee 2 Careers (C2C) is a project partnering the Gonzaga School of Business Administration with the Spokane Northeast Community Center to accompany individuals who experience unstable housing or employment instability in finding a positive work opportunity. The candidates complete a two-week curriculum to learn basic career skills and barista training, before being paired with local business partners who will grant them 6-month employment contracts.

Feeney joined the C2C team during her sophomore year, but pandemic restrictions limited them from progressing further than the creation of a business plan and designing the project phases, including constructing an actual coffee stand, all while working remotely. While difficult, the scope of the work was likely beyond that of a typical student.

Feeney’s hard work and flexibility were noticed. Danielle Xu, professor of finance, remarks that “Feeney has connected local businesses with the Spokane Northeast Community Center leadership to help build a coffee shop inside the center. It will be a great venue for professional training and provide job opportunities for women in the neighborhood.”

Aside from her involvement in C2C and academics, Feeney made a name for herself on campus as a mentor and leader. First-year student Azer Bitanga says: “As a program director for New Venture Lab and the director of communications for the Investment Club, Feeney not only is academically adept, but she also teaches a spin class at the Rudolph Fitness Center and is a welcoming person who encourages and mentors others to be the best version of themselves.”

Bitanga adds, "Emma has mentored me from the time I first met her last semester. She has shown me how to balance my life and what it takes to be a leader both on and off campus. She is the embodiment of what every Zag should strive to be.”