Jodi Emerson was born Jodene Deinhammer in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in August 1972. She was raised and educated and lived nearly her entire life in Eau Claire, graduating from Eau Claire's Memorial High School in 1990. Emerson attended University of Wisconsin–River Falls for two years before starting a family. She has been a PTA president and Girl Scout troop leader.
Emerson with Governor Scott Walker at a bill signing in April 2016
Emerson was a legal assistant in a law office and worked as the Director of Public Policy and Community Relations for Fierce Freedom, a nonprofit advocacy organization that worked to address human trafficking. Emerson has been an anti-trafficking advocate and author of a number of successful bipartisan pieces of legislation, including Senate Bill 344, Senate Bill 396, Senate Bill 618, Assembly Bill 16, Assembly Bill 186, Assembly Bill 435, and Act 367.[2][3][4]
Emerson also developed a statewide program to train hotel workers to spot the signs of human trafficking and co-chaired the development of the statewide community response protocol on human trafficking.[5][6][7] In 2015, Emerson was appointed to serve on Wisconsin's Anti Human Trafficking Task Force.[8] Emerson has also been a member of the Wisconsin Anti-Trafficking Consortium and the Wisconsin Anti-Trafficking Advisory Council, serving as a frequent guest speaker and panelists at churches, schools and libraries across the midwest.[9]
Jodi Deinhammer took the last name Emerson when she married Julian Emerson in 1993.[12] Julian Emerson is a reporter with the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. They have two adult daughters.
