Emily Weems
From Capitol Hill to Capital One
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Emily Weems is the Head of the Global Policy Affairs Group at Capital One, where she just celebrated her 19-year anniversary.
From early on in her childhood, Emily remembered being interested in politics. When she was only ten, she worked with her parents on Rep. Mike Castle's re-election campaign.
Most notably, Emily's tenth grade english teacher was Dr. Jill Biden (before she was a doctor), who she remembers as "a fantastic teacher and a fantastic individual."
Before her tenure started with Capital One, Emily worked on the Hill in the early 2000s for Congressman Castle, who represented Emily's home state of Delaware.
She then went on to work as Professional Staff for the House Financial Services Committee – which set her up well for Capital One.
You may be asking: What's the trick to staying at one company for so long?
"I think Capital One is a very special place ... One of the things that we really pride ourselves on is bringing in really great people and then making you fungible," Emily says.
So to answer your question: Work at Capital One.
Get to know more about Emily...
🏠 Hometown: Wilmington, DE
🎓 College: University of Miami
🔗 CNCT with Emily about... Your favorite F1 driver
More about Emily
🦧 One thing people may not know about Emily is her previous work with chimps and orangutans.
Despite being interested in politics at a young age, Emily actually planned on going to college to be a marine biologist. Although she quickly pivoted to political science, she was also a communications major with a focus on photojournalism.
While in college, she did a story on the Center for Great Apes – which takes in chimpanzees and orangutans with no other places to go. As she worked on her story, she fell in love with them and continued working there as a volunteer.
Emily tries to go back and visit whenever she gets the chance and even gets recognized by some of the "OG" chimps.
🏎️ Outside of work, Emily enjoys keeping up with Formula 1 Racing and her favorite driver, Max Verstappen.
🛳️ She's also an avid traveler who's been to 49 states (missing Oregon). Her favorite type of travel, though, is by cruise. Emily has been on about 60 cruises and think they're a great way to see the world.
Tune in to Emily's interview to hear more about her travels, work at the Center for Great Apes, time as a staffer in the early 2000s, and what makes working at Capital One so great.