Alison McClay

Alison keeps Breakthrough running smoothly as a project manager while also supporting teams as a coach. Growing up in a rural community—and later teaching there—she saw firsthand the gaps in sexual and reproductive health education available to adolescents and young adults in her community. This experience led her to pursue a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Alison wants all adolescents and young adults to be equipped with the support and resources they need and to feel empowered by the adults who work with them to pursue their goals and passions. With extensive training in quantitative and evaluation methods, she is passionate about applied, multidisciplinary research and interventions that promote adolescent health and positive youth development. A lifelong bibliophile, Alison’s favorite genres are romance and young or new adult fiction—you’ll often spot a colorful tower of books in the background of her video calls.