Alisa applies her experience working on Capitol Hill and in state government to create communications strategies that foster understanding, build support, and advance policy change for pressing social issues.

At Burness, Alisa leads campaigns, messaging, events, media engagement and Capitol Hill outreach, with a focus on bringing together advocates, policymakers, and organizations to move solutions forward. Her work has spanned public health, maternal and infant health, violence prevention, aging, and poverty on behalf of leading philanthropies and nonprofit organizations including the AARP Foundation, CDC Foundation, and the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative.

She excels at making complex data and research clear, relevant, and usable. Through a range of strategic communications approaches, she translates evidence into meaningful narratives and practical insights that show why public health issues matter in people’s everyday lives and how data can be used to drive action. She brings this approach to projects with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, City Health Dashboard, and others.

Prior to joining Burness, Alisa spent five years working as an adviser to Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) on chronic disease prevention, wellness, children and family issues. She then went on to serve as public policy and government affairs liaison for the Iowa Department of Human Services and as the Chief for Community Wellness and Obesity Prevention at the Ohio Department of Health.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, Alisa enjoys running, yoga, pickleball, cheering on her hometown Buffalo Bills and staying busy as a proud baseball, dance and soccer mom and PTA volunteer.