Perrin Family Foundation Adds New Team Member

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

NEW HAVEN, CT -- Perrin Family Foundation welcomes Mercedes MacAlpine as its new Program Associate.

Prior to joining The Perrin Family Foundation, Mercedes served as an AmeriCorps Public Ally in Hartford. Through that nonprofit management apprenticeship program, she gained invaluable skills, working with teammates to record and analyze qualitative data, host community events, and collaborate with local organizations. She was formally partnered with Husky Programs and UCONN Husky Sport where she curated social media content and delivered wellness education through a sports-based youth-development lens to students in Hartford.

With a background in systems analysis and social change, in college, Mercedes enjoyed community-building work, and participated in both grassroots activism and administrative efforts towards campus change at Amherst College, where she earned her Bachelors of Arts in Black Studies. 

In her own words:

So many of my recent milestones have come as a result of tremendous support and inspiration from mentors and peers; even my decision to apply for this position was in-part guided by the potential to grow in an open and collaborative environment. Growing up, my family has always served as a sounding board for my personal growth - encouraging me to reach higher, and never compromise my dreams. From listening to the first draft of my speech when I ran for President in junior high school, to helping me shop for shower curtains for my first apartment, they have shown me that nearly anything is possible when you have the right foundation.

In college, I found my voice in grassroots activism, blending what I was learning in the classroom with what I was experiencing in real life. From administrators to my academic advisor, there were many invaluable relationships that helped me forge the tools I needed to turn my potential into possibility. Additionally, I began the lifelong process of crafting a vision for the future, one that united the best parts of the various, diverse communities I found myself a part of. With "radical compassion" as our battle cry, a compassion that was rooted in personal accountability and the shared investment in mutual well-being, we sought to transform our campus into a leader when it came to student-led social justice efforts.

As a Public Ally, I had the honor of working with Hartford youth, and began to realize how fundamentally oppression works to silence the voices of the students around me. Being able to navigate through life is a challenge at any age, but when your humanity is literally up for debate at every turn, the conversation is often being had about you rather than with you at the table. When you are assumed not to have the answers, you are never asked any questions, and time and again I watched as adults, well-meaning and otherwise, assumed that the students they saw every day had no interest in or capacity to shape the course of their own futures. 

For this reason, among many, I am thrilled to now be a part of The Perrin Family Foundation. With the mission to "create environments that support youth as leaders of social change" it was apparent to me upon applying that the foundation recognizes these goals are part of consistent effort and vigilant self reflection. New to the New Haven area and a perennial student at heart, I look forward to continue learning both about the philanthropy, local community organizing, and all of you! Thank you all for this opportunity, and I am excited to become a participate in the efforts to make space for youth at the forefront of social change.

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Website: www.perrinfamilyfoundation.org

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