Maria Emilia “Emi” Ramirez joined the Kent School of Social Work and Family Science as an adjunct professor in 2020 and became an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in July 2021. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in law, public service, higher education, and advocacy, her work focuses on social welfare policy, voting and civic engagement, immigrant rights, inclusive practice, and the ethical use of artificial intelligence in social work education. She also chairs the social welfare policy sequence.

Before joining UofL, Emi served as a Community Relations Officer and Asylum Officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. She previously practiced immigration law at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, taught social work and criminal justice at Kentucky State University, and worked at the ACLU of Kentucky, where she established its immigrants’ rights program and contributed to criminal justice reform efforts. In 2015, the ACLU of Kentucky recognized her work to elevate immigrants’ rights as an organizational priority and featured her as one of its Faces of Liberty.

Emi earned a BA in International Affairs, with a concentration in Latin American Studies, from the George Washington University. She was the first graduate of the dual JD/MSSW program at the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law and Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work.