Meet Emily Golinsky

A dynamic leader, trainer, consultant, and advocate who specializes in supporting camps, schools, municipalities, and organizations to ensure that their participants and staff are set up for success. Emily “tells it like it is” with a large dollop of good humor and a strengths-based perspective.

Emily Golinsky has had a lifelong passion for youth development and for ensuring that under-served/vulnerable populations can successfully experience camp, school, and other settings. With over 25 years of experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to every project.

Most recently before striking out on her own venture (Bright Moose LLC), Emily served as the Executive Director of Camp Starfish, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting children and teens with emotional, behavioral, social, and learning challenges. During her 15-year tenure, she oversaw significant program expansion and the acquisition and development of a permanent property, including the construction of a year-round conference center. Her leadership encompassed strategic planning, fiscal management, program oversight, camp directing, staff hiring/onboarding/training/supervision, parent/guardian relations, and comprehensive incident navigation/management.

Emily holds a BS in Health Psychology from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, an MS in Camp Administration & Leadership from Touro University, and a Higher Education Teaching Certificate from Harvard University. She is also a nationally certified instructor in Adult Mental Health First Aid and has completed the Parent Consultant Training Institute program through the Federation for Children with Special Needs.

Emily has been honored with several awards, including the Peter Kerns Award for the Advancement of Professional Development (ACA, New England, 2023) and the Leadership and Service Award (ACA, New England, 2020). She is the Vice President for NHCamps, where she also sits on the Legislative and DHHS (camp licensing) committees. She is an active contributor to the American Camp Association, serving as a Lead Accreditation Visitor, committee member, and faculty member for the New Camp Directors Workshop in New England, and as a mentor/mentor support at the national level.

Through her company, Bright Moose Training, Emily offers customized training, consulting, and advocacy services to camps, schools, municipalities, and youth-serving organizations in the US and Canada. Her engaging presentations and practical tools empower teams to create supportive environments where everyone can shine bright.

Emily lives with her family in central Massachusetts. When she's not leading workshops or consulting, she enjoys sharing her love for puns and being a proud member of the National Sarcasm Society.

Services Offered:

  • Customized in-person or virtual trainings on a wide variety of topics including mental health/wellbeing for staff, generational impacts in the workplace, participant behavior from basic skills to crisis-based de-escalation, social-emotional learning, structure & transition, inclusion/special needs supports, and more.

  • Development of comprehensive staff training manual materials, presentations, and resources including turnkey seasonal micro-professional development programs

  • Consultation on program design, risk management, organizational leadership, policy & procedure review/update/design, inclusion program development, enrollment management & marketing to your core population, and more

  • Keynote speaking engagements and conference presentations

  • Coaching for new and experienced camp directors, leadership, and key staff

  • Camp season crisis/incident navigation supports

Contact Emily: