Dr. Emily Wilson (she/her) is an experienced public health leader, educator, and researcher deeply committed to improving health and learning equity. Currently, Dr. Wilson serves as Assistant Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Department in Plymouth, where she manages a wide range of community-based services, operations, and resources for a large municipal department. In this role, she co-founded the Plymouth Addiction Response and Improvement Strategies Effort (ARISE), a coordinated, community-driven initiative that aims to increase engagement, reduce stigma, and expand local services for individuals and families struggling with substance use. Plymouth ARISE has been recognized as a model for municipal opioid settlement funding distribution. Dr. Wilson also serves as an elected member of the Greater Plymouth Community Health Network Alliance Steering Committee.

Dr. Wilson began her career as a public health practitioner in college health/higher education, where she worked as a certified health education specialist (CHES) building campus-based initiatives that addressed stigma and engaged underserved populations. She has led complex, grant-funded community health projects and worked as a consultant in nonprofit, university, and K-12 school-based settings. Dr. Wilson’s research focuses on the intersection of trauma, resilience, and education, as well as the social determinants of health and learning. After earning an MPH from West Chester University, she completed a predoctoral fellowship at the Stoneleigh Foundation, where she studied the applications of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) framework in child and family serving systems across the U.S.

From there, Dr. Wilson went on to study trauma-informed and resilience-based strategies that Massachusetts teachers use to support students including English language learners and GED/HiSET students for her dissertation at Simmons University, where she completed her PhD in Health Professions Education. Dr. Wilson taught public health at Simmons and at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Her work has been published in several books and journals. Dr. Wilson also holds an MS in Urban Affairs from Hunter College and a professional certificate in the Treatment of Trauma from the Boston University School of Social Work, as well as Public Management and Developmental Disability Studies certificates from the Rutgers School of Social Work. Dr. Wilson brings her public health and health/learning equity lens to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, and enjoys singing, seeing live music, cooking, baking, and going for hikes with her husband and their rescue dogs.