Emily Oaks, executive director of Foothills Forum, has several decades of experience working for small and midsize newspapers, most recently as editor of the Culpeper Star-Exponent. A Utah native, Emily studied journalism and English at Brigham Young University, and began her career as a reporter and editor for The Daily Herald in Provo. She subsequently served as a columnist and feature writer for a newspaper in suburban Chicago before moving to Virginia, where she was an editor and staff reporter for the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg. She became editor of the Culpeper Star-Exponent in 2018 and took the lead at Foothills in Spring, 2023.

Emily is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Virginia Press Association.

Reach her at emilyojennings@gmail.com