Alyssa Reder grew up in West Chester, OH attending Lakota West High School where she met her husband, Brandon. They both chose to move to Columbus to attend The Ohio State University. Now, many years later, their family consists of two kids in elementary school and two dogs, Carmen and Laney, two names synonymous with Columbus. After graduating they decided to make Columbus their home as most of their family lives here.
How did Alyssa get to PAST? She laughs and says, “Well, I knew somebody! I looked at PAST’s website and thought, I want to do that someday. I also had experience with grant work at OSU’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research & Policy and that experience paid off. I started as an administrative assistant for PAST, next working as a Project Coordinator, STEM Program Coordinator, and 10 years later, I was promoted to Director of Project Management.”
Alyssa adds that there are similarities between the jobs – she needs to have her pulse on everything PAST. “When people see my calendar that includes all of our staff, they ask how does this not drive me crazy. It is just what I do and what I need to do a great job. I really appreciate the growth opportunities that I have enjoyed at PAST!”
The open office space is very attractive to Alyssa as it encourages organic collaboration with the PAST tribe where thinking partners are readily accessible. Help and support is easy to solicit. Ten years of cultivating staff relationships is an attractive aspect to her where she feels like part of a family.
Alyssa’s joy comes from the work PAST does with students. She loves being an instructor especially with the younger students. She also enjoys the opportunity to grow in her career. She readily recognizes that with a small non-profit staff, challenges do abound, but it allows her to grow. Making grant work understandable and attaining funding is challenging and sometimes she finds herself a bit intimidated. “But that is where growth happens,” she outwardly admits.
Thinking of Alyssa’s favorite projects or programs, a few come to mind – “The Science of Fragrance” after school program which included working with Bath & Body Works, Inc. as a corporate partner providing volunteer and mentoring opportunities the last three years. Another was during the pandemic when Ashley, PAST’s Director of Student Experiences, and Alyssa ventured into daycare centers “We knew we needed to pivot so we took our programs to early childhood centers. Using programs like STEAM Explorers and Ad Astra Media, Inc.’s The Good Night Little Series of children’s books focusing on various STEM and STEAM roles, we were able to help introduce the world of STEM to younger children.”
In Alyssa’s new role as Director of Project Management, Alyssa will continue to work with younger students in early childhood as she shifts more of her work to training staff and managing the compliance aspects of project management. That work includes understanding budgeting, grant management and project compliance. Alyssa recently completed her Montessori diploma project through the North American Montessori Center. This credential expanded her knowledge and abilities to head the early childhood work at PAST and write programs.
“I chose my meta title Baroness of Balance because I liked the concepts of alliteration and royalty. While in my role as an administrative assistant, I would often say that I was herding Cats, but herding them in a line!”
In the near future, Alyssa plans to focus on her experience coupled with her new duties to continue growing into her new role. “We have great middle school STEM programming and my hope is to help PAST focus on STEM with students beginning in Pre-K through elementary.” We at PAST are thankful to Alyssa for her efforts and are excited to watch how this project as it continues to
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