Alliance for Better Health

5 days ago

Meet Sarah. Like any organization, we operate as a business. Sarah appreciates that business is only one of many measures of success at Alliance. As one of the minds behind our messaging, Sarah believes that the real measure of success comes from our efficacy as servant leaders — working to create a more equitable future for our neighbors wherein health is fundamental, not a privilege.

With a love for antiquing – it only makes sense that Sarah would live in a home that is centuries old. Built in the 1850s, the carriage house that she and her husband, Alex, own is the perfect space for them to plant their roots. In Sarah’s eyes, it’s all about unearthing the good old stuff, and while she reminisces on how it’s not always pretty and comes with plenty of surprises, at the end of the day – being part of the bigger story within the four walls of the home is worth it all. Only a year in, they’ve already made history of their own in that house, as she and Alex got married in the backyard alongside the tallest maple trees and their closest family and friends – exactly five years after the first day they met.

When she’s not spending her time focusing on her ever growing home to-do list or planning, unplanning, and replanning a large wedding celebration amidst the global pandemic – you can find Sarah enjoying an IPA (this time, it’s actually the beer!) or chasing the sunshine with her adorable Siberian Husky, Rue.

As life begins to return to some semblance of “normalcy” in 2021, Sarah believes that we all have a role to play, however big or small, in cultivating a brighter tomorrow. Guided by perspective, courage, resilience, and resolve, Sarah is confident that a better world is possible. ... See MoreSee Less

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Alliance for Better Health

2 weeks ago

Meet Yolanda! As one of our Performance Consultants, she works directly with partners to make sure they have what they need to be successful and achieve their goals. Reflecting on the four years she’s been at Alliance, she recognizes that success looks like a lot of different things; no matter how large or small our role is in achieving the final goal, we truly succeed by working together.

If you ask Yo what her favorite thing to do is, her answer is this: socialize. With the best laugh and biggest smile in any room, anyone who knows her would say that she is the quintessential ‘social butterfly.’ Like it has for all of us, the pandemic prevents her from doing her favorite things – going out with friends, looking for the next adventure, and volunteering throughout the community. As someone who loves to travel and looks for any excuse to do so, Yo’s one criteria is that she doesn’t want to do it alone. She plans to join a travel group when it is safe to go to new places again – not just for the travel aspect, but to meet new people.

Going back to school was something she never thought she could do while working full time, but three years later, she is in her last class for her graduate certificate in public health from UAlbany. She’ll tell you it went by in the blink of an eye – but has loved learning about a topic that is so relevant to the work she does here at Alliance.

Recognizing that we are all doing the best that we can, Yo urges us to channel this Maya Angelou quote for whatever comes our way, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ... See MoreSee Less

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Alliance for Better Health

3 weeks ago

Meet Sam, our opportunity finder. In Sam’s eyes, success at Alliance means that we’ve set our partners up to have impactful interactions with community members, changing and saving lives.

Sam would humbly tell you she is “not that good at golf”, but her title as the ‘2019 and 2020 Country Club of Troy Women’s Club Golf Champion’ would say otherwise. Last year’s local win included an invite to play with other club champions across the nation at Pinehurst Golf Resort, a dream round of golf for Sam having watched the Men’s and Women’s U.S. Opens hosted there. An activity she started for fun when she was five, playing with her family for bragging rights and ice cream, Sam has no doubt made a name for herself in the golf world. But it isn’t the only sport she’s skilled at; Sam played competitive ice hockey growing up, leaving home at 16 to play at prep school and going on to play at Connecticut College where she excelled.

A learning enthusiast, Sam enjoys taking classes of all kinds. Although some are focused on her career and personal growth, she takes others simply for the enjoyment she gets from learning (like the cooking class she is currently taking). Sam is always eager to bring what she has learned back to us here at Alliance - leading Zoom breakout sessions geared towards evaluating ourselves personally and professionally, and presenting at staff meetings with major takeaways from her courses. In true ‘opportunity finder’ fashion, she understands the value in sharing her knowledge with others – never keeping what she’s learned just to herself.

As our first ‘Behind the Screens’ highlight for 2021, Sam leaves us with this piece of advice for the year ahead: have the mindset to better yourself. Ask yourself each day, ‘how am I going to be better tomorrow than I was today?’. ... See MoreSee Less

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