Alyssa Irizarry
33 | Projects Coordinator, Alliance for Community Transformations
Residence: Pownal
Creating spaces for youth to feel safe to express who they are, and being a caring adult that I would have trusted and turned to for support when I was a teenager. Maya Angelou said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” A young person I 
worked with shared with me recently that they “felt very cared for in [my] presence,” affirming the impact I hope to have in all of my relationships and endeavors.
Your community involvement:
I work for a community-based substance misuse prevention coalition, so being involved in the community is embedded into my day-to-day activities, whether it’s facilitating youth 
programs, supporting substance-free events for families, or designing communications that promote community health and wellness. A big project I am working on now is growing a network of community partners who provide free menstrual and personal-care products in an effort to address period and hygiene poverty in Bennington.
In addition, I serve as a board member for both Queer Connect Bennington and the National Marine Educators Association. I am also a volunteer with The Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ youth, and I serve as a volunteer coach for Girls on the Run Vermont. Over the summer, I sell organic fruits and vegetables (and offer unsolicited recipe suggestions) with Wildstone Farm at the Bennington Farmers’ Market, which is one of my favorite community spaces.
Inspiration for living and working in Vermont:
My partner and I moved to Vermont with a desire for a different pace of living, an interest in having more space to grow herbs and vegetables, and a love of being surrounded by forest.
Favorite part of your job:
Being able to work with so many brilliant, heart-driven people on issues that are important to me: public health, youth empowerment, menstrual equity, food security, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ visibility and power, to name a few.
Best career advice you have received:
Our career paths do not have to be linear; we do not always need to be climbing a ladder, moving forward or up. Move with meaning and toward alignment. (Shout out to coach Carole Ann Penney!)
Something fun about yourself that few people know:
I’m in the Monterey Bay Aquarium! In 2011, a new exhibit opened at the aquarium that included environmental artists and featured a video of me talking about my college research project on sea turtle murals and conservation in Baja, Mexico. Every now and again I’ll get a “Is this you?!” message from someone who is visiting the aquarium.
Three words that best describe you:
Creative, perceptive and passionate.
Favorite Vermont escape:
We love camping in Vermont state parks.
Favorite Vermont season:
Nothing beats Vermont in the summer. Berries and tomatoes that taste like sunshine, full moon bonfires, river swimming holes, meadows in bloom … these are a few of my favorite things!
Favorite downtime activity:
Watching birds. They bring me so much joy and healing. There’s so much to see by just stepping outside for a moment or pausing to glance out my window from my desk. It’s calming for sure, though as any bird lover will agree, there’s a lot of drama and excitement too.
Favorite social media:
adrienne maree brown’s meme mood boards (IYKYK).
Cause(s) you would support if you had unlimited funds:
Water protectors who put their bodies on the line to protect people and places from extractive and destructive fossil fuel industries, and abortion funds across the country.
A song on your playlist you are embarrassed to admit to your best friend:
My best friend would completely understand that I follow the “Emo Forever” playlist on Spotify.
Where you see yourself professionally in the next five to 10 years:
Continuing to deepen into care work that is intergenerational, community-based and justice-driven. I see myself living into my definition of success: feeling balanced, vibrant, supported, and connected to my gifts, my values, and the living world through skillful and beneficial work, service and community.
Goal(s) you’d like to accomplish in the next five to 10 years:
I am interested in going back to school to get my master’s degree; right now, I am thinking about programs in social work or art therapy. I would love to bridge my creative and dreamwork (studying one’s dreams) practices with my education experience and positive youth development work into an offering for youth that centers imagination; mental health and wellness; and self-empowerment.
How your job has changed since the pandemic:
I was part of the “Great Resignation” in early 2021, so I left and subsequently started a new job during the pandemic. But what has really changed since the pandemic is the way that I work by incorporating more self-care into my day, for example: bookending my work day with grounding practices like meditation or walking, making sure I stay hydrated, asking for help when I need it, using PTO, and creating boundaries around checking work email.
