hi there. my name is Alyssa.

I’m a designer and strategist from rural Vermont. This small state has instilled in me the value of uplifting communities, and I try to continue that tradition by aligning design strategy and ethnographic research with participatory practices in my work. As a result, I consider myself somewhat of a design translator: helping bridge the gap between “design” and its use by others.

Currently, I’m a “Digital Services Expert” at the US Digital Service. No, I don’t really know what that means, but essentially I’m still a Service Designer.

Previously, I’ve worked at or with: Reboot, Smashing Ideas, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, brightspot, USAID, UNWomen, and Orbis International, among others. I’ve also taught undergraduate classes at Parsons, including Design Strategies in Everyday Experience as well as Studio 1 for the Integrated Design BA program.

I hold an MFA in Transdisciplinary Design from Parsons School of Design and an Honors BS in Community & International Development from the University of Vermont.

I’m based in Brooklyn, NY, where you can find me reading in the park, trying to find all the vegetarian dumplings, and DJing on the weekends.

a few dream projects.

• (Re)design how first generation students interact with guidance councilors on their quest to pick a college

• Create a city-wide office that focuses on co-designing communications, planning, and response to natural disasters

• Co-design how small rural towns plan for their future, and help them implement it

• Redesign access to public drinking water in cities that doesn’t involve plastic

• Design alternatives to current cooling systems for low income communities during extreme heat events (e.g. A/Cs, cooling centers)