Emily Rupchock has been serving South Bend’s most vulnerable populations for more than a decade. After graduating with a degree from Bethel College in 2005, she took a position at Hope Ministries, a transitional housing program with a recovery focus for homeless individuals in the South Bend community.
After a stint with the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Rupchock assumed her current role as Director of Ready to Grow St. Joe, a collection of early childhood stakeholders committed to ensuring that all children in St. Joseph County, Indiana, have the foundation to thrive in school and in life.
In 2014, Rupchock enrolled in an executive leadership course at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business as part of a professional development opportunity while at the Center for the Homeless. A few years later, she enrolled in Notre Dame’s Executive Master of Nonprofit Administration program. Her experience thus far has exceeded her initial high expectations. “It’s an intense program, but I appreciate that it’s well catered to folks who are full-time professionals. If you’re in a leadership role in the non-profit sector, it’s incredibly practical. It’s been great to develop presentations for class and then turn around and show them to my board right away.”
Rupchock also appreciates the ways in which the program intentionally develops female leaders. “There’s a lot of focus on what leadership looks like at its best—understanding yourself in an effort to understand the folks that work for you and with you.”
She credits the program’s small class sizes with fostering in-depth conversations about topics like gender parity in the workforce.