President's Welcome

April Cooper Edward

Staff Council President, 2024-2025

My name is April Cooper Edward, and it is my pleasure to serve as the 2024-2025 President of the Staff Council. I am the HR Operations Lead for the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine. I started my tenure at Emory during the COVID pandemic. It was during a time when no one was in the office, and I was working from home full-time. It was a reclusive and isolating time. I hadn’t met most of my colleagues in person and only saw faces over Zoom meetings.

When I received an email from our HR leadership asking for volunteers to serve on the Staff Council (Employee Council at the time), I thought this was an amazing way to meet other Emory University employees. Since I like volunteering my time and resources to different organizations, I thought this was an excellent way to get involved in the Emory community.

My focus this year will be investing in our staff. Staff are one of the most valuable resources here at Emory. We are the foundation that keeps the university strong and thriving. This is why is it so important to grow and nurture our staff. We can accomplish this by listening to staff concerns and suggestions and putting plans into action. I believe growing our staff includes opportunities for job growth, continuing education efforts, additional staff resources, and job satisfaction. 

It is my hope to bridge the gap between staff and administration so that we can create a space of open communication and transparency. We are stronger together and can build the Emory that I know is destined for greatness. So, grab your hard hats and safety vests, because we have a lot of work to do. See you on the other side.