Beyond the Bio: Alyssa Wright
Alyssa Wright is an artist, activist, and the CEO of Wright Consulting. She has worked with over 25 different international NGOs in her 7+ years of experience as a social change fundraiser. Alyssa has supported and coached the direction of $25+ million to organizations launching or growing Major Gifts Programs, mostly in the fields of women’s rights and human rights. She specializes in crafting tactical giving platforms that suit current national philanthropic trends, as well as finding passionate prospective donors in the continental USA. Recently, with Alyssa’s leadership role and support, two different NGOs working to empower women and girls in Kenya have begun to double their individual funding goals with the platforms designed by Raising Change.
To help you get to know Alyssa, we asked her the following questions.
What’s something we might not know about you even after we spend a day with you?
I’m the world’s biggest arts & crafts nerd. I seriously don’t know how I didn’t end up with a career as a host of a do-it-yourself show on HGTV. It probably would have been called, “Crafting social change” and would have focused on how to create and sell homemade items that fueled societal transformation. I clearly dream small!
What do you do for fun?
I visit breweries and practice yoga. Not at the same time, although that could become a new trend if I felt like starting one. I write, I read, I watch as many episodes of X-Files as I can in a day. And I work. I find such joy in my work that yes, I do it for fun.
What’s your greatest strength?
My imagination. Working in philanthropy and fundraising requires you to be a visionary. You get to invite people to a conversation about what the world’s unwritten future might look like, if fully resourced. I find my ability to dream on that, and map a way to bringing it to fruition, is a great strength and privilege.
Favorite part about living in Maine?
Seeing the coastline every morning, witnessing the young entrepreneurs creating new businesses here, and grabbing blueberry pancakes at the Maine Diner covered in a little too much syrup for my own good!
First job at, or with, a nonprofit?
I was an actor, activist and fundraiser with Serious Play! Theatre Company in Northampton, MA.
What book is on your nightstand/coffee table?
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson.
What’s an article/blog/book you recommend?
Check out Tiffany Pham’s Mogul! Mogul is a brilliant platform where women from all over the world can share stories and ask questions of each other for support and intellect.
What makes you laugh the most?
My husband’s jokes!
What was the last movie you went to? Thumbs up or thumbs down?
Star Wars. MASSIVE thumbs up!
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Christmas Eve, every year at my Grandma’s. Potato salad, finger sandwiches, brightly lit trees and board games. That’s the good stuff holiday childhood memories are made of.
Learn more about (and from) Alyssa by joining her at this upcoming training: Crafting a Passionate + Effective Short-Term Fundraising Strategy.
