Alyssa Gandolph graduated from HGSE with an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Analysis in 2023. She recently graduated from the University of Arizona, completing her B.S. in educational leadership and B.A. in political science with minors in Russian studies and educational psychology. While at the UofA, she worked as a research assistant, observing teacher and student behaviors across schools in Tucson, Arizona. Additionally, Alyssa was a Disability Policy Fellow at the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities. These experiences, alongside nonprofit internships, prompted Alyssa’s hope to bring community agency into policy efforts seeking to minimize cyclical poverty. She is interested in k-12 strategies to promote access to the workforce. As a Research Assistant at the Next Level Lab, Alyssa contributed to research on Green Jobs and supported our practitioner workshop series.