WOC Advocacy Council Member

Emily Torres-Cullinane is a proud first-generation Latina with Colombian roots and a lifelong resident of Massachusetts raising a young family with her husband in the Greater Boston area. She cares deeply about the empowerment of people, particularly with the goals of amplifying diverse voices, uplifting youth, building civic social infrastructures and increasing the capacity of decision makers to have stronger connections with the communities they represent. And was recently recognized by Amplify Latinx as one of the top 100 Latinos making a difference in the Commonwealth.

With two decades of experience in community engagement, municipal and federal government, and political strategic planning, she currently serves as the Chief of the Community Engagement Division in the Executive Bureau of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO). The Attorney General’s Community Engagement Division aims to fulfill the Office’s mission to serve all people in Massachusetts in every one of its diverse communities. Ms. Torres-Cullinane and her team work to establish a two-way bridge between community members and the agency so that every resident has access to its resources, services, and educational materials.

Prior to joining the AGO, Ms. Torres-Cullinane founded the Community Engagement Department at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council developing its engagement practice over the course of 12 years. Additionally, she worked for the Commonwealth Seminar, a program dedicated to opening the doors of government for diverse communities by demystifying the legislative process and encouraging deeper, more sustained, advocacy on Beacon Hill and is still involved in the program today.

She grew up working for her family’s tourism business based out of Boston, Don Quijote Tours, serving Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian speaking clientele from across the globe. This experience led her to begin a career in International Humanitarian Assistance as an Event Planner and Program Coordinator for the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University. And then was recruited by the Census Bureau to design public awareness campaigns engaging the Latino community as well as college students throughout New England and upstate New York.

Ms. Torres-Cullinane earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations with a Minor in Spanish at Suffolk University. She is an Interaction Institute for Social Change certified facilitator and a graduate of YW Boston’s LeadBoston Program and the Initiative for Diversity in Civic Leadership. She has served on the Massachusetts Community Development Corporation’s Mel King Institute’s Steering Committee and taught a Community Engagement course as part of their certificate curriculum. Currently, she serves as Vice Chair of Canton’s Energy Committee facilitating engagement around the Energy Aggregation Program.