Emily Ogrinz grew up in the Bronx in the 70s and went to the Bronx High School of Science and Columbia College in Manhattan in the 80s.  After graduating with a BA in Biology, she embarked on over a decade of hand’s on work as an environmentalist.  She worked as a research assistant in Arizona, a Spotted Owl habitat mapper in Oregon, a fisheries observer on fishing boats in Alaska.  After returning to New York, she worked at the American Museum of Natural History as an educator, before joining the Peace Corps to work on environmental issues for 2 years in a small town in Slovakia.  After her service, she returned to New York City, where she worked as a grant writer at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Throughout her years as an environmentalist, Emily regularly worked on her art, taking classes in different mediums at various art schools and creating her own work, drawings, poetry and essays..  In 2000, she gave birth to her first son and began the second phase of her adult life, being a stay-at-home mom, devoted to her family and community.  When her second son, born in 2004, was 1, she began studying art more seriously, first in pastels and then in oil paint, her preferred medium.  In 2005 she made a personal commitment to her art and has been painting consistently in her own studio since then, developing her technique and vision.

In addition to her commitments to both her family and her art, she has maintained her commitment to the healing of the earth through gardening, organically and ecologically, and other efforts to live sustainably.  Emily is also a passionate bibliophile and is often reading multiple books on any given day and keeps current in her many areas of interest.  Throughout her life, beginning as a small child, Emily has been curious and driven to understand how things work, especially the human mind.  At the ages of 18 she realized that her highest purpose was to seek enlightenment, and she has spent the past 30 plus years doing that.  Unfortunately every time she thinks she’s found the answer, she discovers that there is still much to learn.

In 2022, Emily embarked on yet another phase of her life’s journey when her oldest graduated from college and her youngest went to college.  As a mother who has always tried to do what’s best for her kids, she realized that what young adult children need most from their mom is to trust them to live their own lives.  With all her skills in nurturing and the requirements of her own journey towards enlightenment, Emily was called to work with others on their life’s work as a life coach.  Through her coaching education at Lumia, she has found herself once again embarking on a journey of discovery of both self and others and is looking forward to sharing her wisdom and perspective with fellow travelers.  She hopes that through this work she can help bring more joy and peace into the world.