Site Logo
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Our Services
Home News Spotlight on PPA Project Manager Alissa Parks

Spotlight on PPA Project Manager Alissa Parks

April 20, 2023

Public Policy Associate’s new Project Manager Alissa Parks brings decades of experience managing complex projects. Much of her work has focused on early childhood systems. She held a variety of leadership roles at the Early Childhood Investment Corporation. She led the development of the Great Start Collaboratives and Parent Coalitions across Michigan and was director of operations and innovation. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Saginaw Valley State University and a master’s in public policy and administration from Michigan State University.

Your bachelor’s degree is in criminal justice, but much of your career has focused on early childhood. How did that come about?

I studied criminal justice because I was interested in working with juvenile offenders and youth. In graduate school, I was still very interested in how to prevent criminal behavior, as well as how to help families and youth. I pursued an internship with the Michigan Children’s Trust Fund because I was interested in child abuse and neglect prevention. I found myself drawn to the new research about brain development and the impact of the earliest years on children’s lives. That set my course.

What drew you to public policy work?

When I was starting out in the ‘90s, there was a lot of work related to a systems approach. If we want to solve problems that are causing families and youth to have poor outcomes, we can’t just look at individual programs. We need to look at policies, funding, and programs, as well as the coordination of those programs.

The themes in my career have been helping individuals and groups be more intentional in their work, and helping projects move forward to achieve their intended outcomes. I’m probably best known for my facilitation and project management work to help teams and organizations be more effective.

What drew you to PPA?

Colleen Graber (PPA’s chief operating officer) and I worked together on an Early Childhood Investment Corporation evaluation many years ago. PPA is growing, and she reached out to me and asked if I had any interest in taking on some project management work. I met with Colleen and Rob Fowler (PPA CEO). I grew very excited about the work PPA is doing across a variety of issues as well as the vision that PPA’s leadership has for expanding their reach not only in research and evaluation but also helping with capacity building and helping nonprofits and other groups be successful.

What projects are you working on?

I have three research/evaluation projects—two on early childhood and one on out-of-school time programs. I am also helping a regional child care coalition that is working on an action plan. Early childhood is my emphasis given my history and background, but it may expand depending on need and capacity.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I prefer to be outside. My husband and I are very active in the outdoors. We like to fish and camp and travel. I, myself, do a lot of hiking and kayaking. I also do a lot of yoga. We have two sons, one at Michigan State University and the other a junior in high school, so that keeps us busy.

Share: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
Spotlight on PPA Office Manager Jenny O’Neal
Engaging Providers and Parents in Designing Child Care Research

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
© Copyright 2023
Public Policy Associates
119 Pere Marquette Drive Suite 1C
Lansing, MI 48912-1231
Phone: 517-485-4477