Drawing from her experience as both an attorney and executive spanning a variety of sectors, Alyssa is a trusted partner to organizations and their leadership teams. Alyssa focuses on helping clients align their mission and values with all aspects of their operations, culture, and strategy. Alyssa is a seasoned workplace investigator who has represented employees, employers, unions, and the government; her understanding of each party’s perspective makes her particularly effective at conducting workplace investigations and advising employers and nonprofit Boards.
Before coming to HRSAW, Alyssa practiced at a leading Massachusetts firm specializing in nonprofit legal services. Prior to private practice, Alyssa advised on performance management, employee relations, workforce development, and DEI practices as Vice President and Massachusetts Director of Conservation Law Foundation. Her background also includes in-house counsel at Northeastern University and the National Labor Relations Board.
Alyssa is a sought-after speaker and educator on a range of topics, including risk management for nonprofit organizations, as well as workplace inclusion and DEI programming, especially regarding issues of gender identity and LGBTQ inclusion. Alyssa serves as Commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth and on the Human Rights Committee for Beverly, Massachusetts.
Alyssa has a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School, an M.A. from Union Theological Seminary, where she received the Charles A. Briggs award for “conscience, commitment, and courage,” and her B.A. with honors from Swarthmore College. Following law school, Alyssa clerked for federal judge Francisco A. Besosa in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. She is a trained mediator (Community Dispute Settlement Center) and holds a certificate in Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health). She has completed two training programs conducted by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD): ”Train-the-Trainer: Workplace Discrimination & Harassment” and “Conducting Internal Discrimination Complaint Investigations.” Alyssa has also completed Higher Education Title IX Investigator Training (Bricker Graydon LLP).
Alyssa enjoys cooking and eating good food, long hikes and big adventures (she is a thru-hiker of the Appalachian Trail), and spending time outdoors with her family, rain or shine. Alyssa is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.