From her work at the Ballard Center to the stories she writes on her own time, student Emily Foutz has learned that words can ignite change in oneself and one's community.
As a high schooler, Emily Foutz (English ’26) took a trip to Tonga with what was then called the Humanitarian Experience for Youth (HEFY) program. Over a summer in the Pacific, she worked hands on to build a home for a woman impacted by a natural disaster. She learned in Tonga that she valued being deeply involved in a community, and she later wondered how she could incorporate that desire into her upcoming BYU college experiences. Today Foutz’s efforts reach others through two different avenues. As both a writer for the BYU Ballard Center for Social Impact and an author of her own novel, Foutz has learned that words are a powerful tool for enacting change both large and small.
The Ballard Center Projects
Foutz entered BYU with a general interest in community outreach and sociocultural studies, but like many freshman, she wasn’t sure what major would suit her goals. After meeting with an advisor, she felt strongly pulled to English. She had been reminded by her advisor that “you can do a lot of good with words. Words are powerful.”
At the same time, a speaker visited one of Foutz’s courses to introduce the Ballard Center. They spoke on learning to apply one’s compassion, skills, and resources to “Do Good, Better” in worldwide communities, as the center’s slogan states. Foutz listened and felt, “That’s exactly what I want to do with my life.” Not long after, she got involved at the Ballard Center, putting the skills she was refining in her English major to work as a special projects writer.
As of fall 2026, Foutz has worked at the Ballard Center for two and a half years. She cowrites and edits reports and manuscripts as needed by the center’s various teams, helping with online articles, secondary research, and conferences. For example, Foutz coauthored a research report intended to raise awareness on the Mexican drug cartels’ strategies for recruiting youth. She also edited Business in Zion, a book of compiled chapters each written by an undergraduate business student about how gospel principles don’t have to be confined to church and home; they can be brought to the work sphere as well. Recently, Foutz also helped query and outline a book to support women who are looking to step into leadership roles. She hopes it will inspire women to embrace their executive abilities as they lead as Christ did.
Foutz intends to write professionally in a future career, and she plans to always contribute to a cause that addresses community needs. She’s come away from her work at the Ballard Center with an increased sense of hope in people’s ability to recognize social problems and strive to work toward solutions. “We need to do our part to build Zion,” she says, “because it’s not just going to build itself.”
The Personal Project
Foutz’s job at the Ballard Center has shown her the impact of writing on the organizational level, but she also believes that a novel can open the door to social change on the individual level. Off campus and off the clock, Foutz has been writing and revising her own work of young adult (YA) fiction.
Foutz’s studies on the English creative writing track, including courses on YA literature and workshops on fiction writing, have shown her that her work “doesn’t have to be humanitarian to have a social impact.” She knows from her job at the Ballard Center that “reports need to be written to make things happen, to show research credibly and help get the word out about it.” But a novel has the special ability to show the “individual, more readable lives” behind the research.
Foutz’s book has stemmed from her desire to portray people as they really are—to write a story “where people really communicate, where they disagree and things are hard, and they choose each other anyway.” Her book is a contemporary fiction about an aspiring florist, with grieving loved ones to support, who learns from new love that personal potential can be found in unexpected places.
During Foutz’s writing process, she’s not only grown in her ability to empathize with others, but she’s also become more aware of what’s important to her. She says, “I’m spending time with messages that I want the world to hear.” The social impact of a novel is not always readily apparent, but Foutz believes that fiction allows people to see authentic portrayals of themselves and others between the pages. To her, fiction raises a call to empathy and “strikes a chord in everyone.”
Foutz has learned that inspiring stories come from every variety of voice and background. But whether an author feels drawn to write research reports or novels, Foutz believes, “if there’s a fire burning within you, then you need to do something about it. You can do good in the world.”
Learn more about the English major and tracks on the College of Humanities website.