Outstanding Leadership in Queens
2018 Honoree of the Queens Federation of Churches

Emma Graeber Porter

Emma Graeber Porter is a native of North Carolina, whose family members have been leaders (both lay and ordained) for generations in the Lutheran Church. She moved to New York in 1978 after earning an MS in Math and an MBA in Business Management from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, to work at the headquarters of Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceutical in Ardsley. She was a member of a newly formed management consultant group where she was responsible for computer technology for company sites on the East Coast and in Canada, managing teams of consultants who were assigned to develop, purchase and implement software solutions for varied business needs.

Emma joined and began to serve through New Hope Lutheran Church’s ministries in Jamaica, working on various committees during her 38 years as a member. She sings in the Senior Choir and serves as Assisting Minister and Lector in worship services as needed. Emma was elected to the Congregation Council and has continued to serve a total of 32 years. She has been elected by her fellow Council members as the Vice President (the highest leadership position for a non-ordained person), for 26 of those years.

When New Hope set out to renovate and up-date the church building in the early 2000s, Emma served as Project Manager for ten years, overseeing the completion of the million-dollar project. About 13 years ago, Emma was a founding member of the Healthy Congregation Ministry, begun to provide education and health-related services for members of the congregation.

Emma has been New Hope’s Voting Member to the annual Synod Assembly of the New York Metropolitan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for the last 18 years. Emma also stepped up to serve as a member of the Metropolitan New York Synod Council. She has served on Advisory Panels appointed by the Bishop to conduct investigations and make recommendations to resolve challenges or conflicts in congregations in the Synod. Emma’s considerable financial acumen led her to significant, policy-making appointments on church-wide ELCA concerns as a Board member and the Chairperson of the ELCA’s Board of Pensions, and as a Board member and the Chairperson of the ELCA’s Mission Investment Fund (MIF). The MIF offers funding opportunities to congregations for building and renovation projects, and opportunities to invest in financial products for individual ELCA members.
She has served on the Board and as Chairperson of the Lutheran Healthcare Center, Brooklyn, which has merged with NYU and been renamed NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn. Previously, Emma served as a member of the Board of the Wartburg Home, Mount Vernon, NY, a member of the Board of the Bethlehem Fund (a religious non-profit that funds schools and cultural institutions through grants), and as a member of the Boards of Lutheran Social Services of New York and Seafarers International House.

With a commitment to Lutheran Education, she has served on the Boards of Luther College, Decorah, IA and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). When LTSP merged with the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg last year to form the United Lutheran Seminary (ULS), Emma’s continued service on the Board of this new institution was requested. She continues to serve on the board of LTSP as it transitions its real estate and other legal obligations in Philadelphia to ULS.
She also serves as a Board member of Lutheran World Relief, the international, pan-Lutheran nonprofit organization that helps families in the world’s poorest communities build the resilience they need to thrive. She recently secured a $500,000 grant from the Bethlehem Fund to assist 8 schools in the Apurimac region of Peru to obtain solar energy to promote improved hygiene and access to computer technology. The success of the project has helped reduce the incidents of gastrointestinal illnesses among the school children and their families.

While being active in the leadership of all of these ministries, Emma formed her business, Graeber Consulting Inc., in 1984, which provides business management consulting services. Her commitment to ministry has led her to focus on helping non-profit and religious organizations address business concerns.

She considers her work with these institutions a calling to serve those who serve others for God. In addition, Emma is often invited to speak at symposiums, serve on panels and participate in advisory capacities to share her expertise in high schools and at community events. She has served as a mentor at IBM and coaches young entrepreneurs as they build their businesses. These opportunities allow her to give back and pay it forward in response to the many blessings she has received during her life.