Staff Spotlight: Alyssa Cawley

Alyssa recently joined the TechChange team as an Account Manager, where she supports public health education programs.

Q: So, tell us more about yourself. How did you end up working in education?
I never intended on working in education, but education has always had a way of finding me. While in college, I worked as a peer mentor for first-year students. In this role, I assisted the professor in teaching the course and leading class activities. After working for several years in health care once I graduated, I decided to move to South America for about a year. During that time, I taught English and culture for a semester in Argentina. During both of these experiences, I realized that I had a skill for meeting learners where they are in their process.

Q: How did you first hear about TechChange?
Graduating into a pandemic was less than ideal, since I had studied humanitarian health with the hopes of working internationally. When I realized that would not be an option, I set my sights on the DC area, which is when I found TechChange. They had recently released COVID-19 courses, and that caught my attention because I had just finished working on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 incident command response. The courses were well-designed and interactive, and I knew I wanted to be part of making them even better.

Q: What are some of your favorite parts of working at TechChange so far?
The team I work with every day has been incredible. With limited experience in education and no experience in tech, I was worried about taking a position with TechChange. But I hit the ground running on big projects with crazy timelines, and I always felt fully supported by my team members. I love being part of a company that, to its very core, works to create social change and bring more equity to professional development.

Q: What excites you about this role?
I have been given the space to be innovative and use my past experiences to help shape our work, which keeps me motivated to produce engaging courses for our learners. For me, the most exciting part of this role is knowing that our final product will end up in the hands of someone who is trying to gain more knowledge, grow themselves professionally, and bring those skills to their community. I like the idea that all of the hard work is worth it if it makes even one person’s life better.

Q: Anything you look forward to working on or learning at TechChange in the next year?
I am looking forward to collaborating on more projects that involve the crossroads of public health and online learning. We are living in such a pivotal time in the field of public health when everything is evolving rapidly. People are realizing that the way program implementation or professional training was done in the past may not be sustainable in the future. This gives us an opportunity to be creative and find new ways to reach people across the globe. It will be a learning process for everyone, but TechChange has been doing just that for many years now, and I am excited to be part of it.

Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?
I hate bicycles because one time I got stranded in the Atacama desert at night while on a biking trip to Valle de la Luna to watch the sunset (so worth it). I am very thankful for the kind Brazilian family who picked me up on the side of the road, but the experience ruined any dreams of being one of those cool people who bikes around DC.