About the blog and blogger

About the Blog
This is a blog that was born from a love of learning and a constant need to construct and share knowledge. Upside Down Bananas is about insight and observation—it’s not expert opinion. Just a young professional sharing different ways to think about community, social change, communications, and people. A lot like peeling bananas upside down, this blog is about reconfiguring traditional approaches to discover new perspectives and opportunities.

A few years ago, my grandfather taught me the trick of peeling bananas upside down, and I was probably a little too impressed by the fact that when peeled from the opposite side, it’s much more efficient to eat a banana. I like the notion of things that are very traditional being reinvigorated through slight twists in process or approach. So it seemed fitting that this blog be named after one example of such a twist.

About the Blogger
My name is Emily Malloy, and I work in project management at a communications firm. I’ve been a writer of some sort from a young age–writing was truly my first love. As a teenager, I was a correspondent for blue jean magazine and wrote a column carried nationwide through Knight Ridder/Tribune News Services.

Writing allowed me to meet incredible, diverse young women who inspired my passion for social change. I began volunteering with the Michigan Women’s Foundation in high school, and over time, my plans for joining the Peace Corps and “saving the world” evolved to become far more local. Some people told me my world got a lot smaller when I returned home to West Michigan after college… I have never felt that way, and I’ve never stopped believing that no matter where you are, what you do can affect something much bigger than yourself or your local community.

I currently serve on the Michigan Women’s Foundation board of trustees and the board of the League of Women Voters in Grand Rapids. In 2004, Governor Granholm appointed me to the Michigan Women’s Commission.

Before supporting nonprofit and philanthropic clients with their communication plans, messaging, and the like, I worked in marketing at the local United Way. I was also editor-in-chief of the Red Cedar Log, Michigan State University’s yearbook and the nation’s largest student yearbook.