Her Story
About Alex
Alex North serves as a Program Manager at Prison Fellowship, a role she has held for the past two years. In this position, she coordinates with partners including chaplains, volunteers, and donors to deliver programs in prisons, managing a team of 60 to 70 volunteers and organizing events and community engagement initiatives. Prior to this, North spent time with the American Red Cross in military and international services, where she managed volunteer teams and family support programs across seven installations in Arizona and later in North Carolina, including support for deployments and refugee communications. She also facilitated searches and messages for families separated by conflict while building case management teams that eliminated backlogs. North has always worked in the social causes sector, beginning with numerous volunteer and internship roles during her undergraduate studies. She earned a bachelor's degree in global health, completing most of her studies at Heidelberg University before receiving her degree from Arizona State University. She is currently enrolled in a Master's of Business Administration program at Tulane University. North attributes her professional path to a commitment to service, integrity, and authentic engagement, often showing up directly to organizations to offer support rather than following traditional application processes.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Alex
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm a woman of faith, and so I definitely am grateful to God for everywhere that I've come. I think that trusting and being resilient through no's and rejections, and just trusting that the right outcome will come to pass as time goes on, and as you continue to be aligned with yourself and be authentic to yourself, that you will end up in the right place. I would attribute my success of course to God, and then also to a willingness to believe in yourself despite adversity, and just continue to grow and believe in yourself to walk into new spaces. Also a consistent commitment to growth, always having an eye on the ball of what could I do more, what could I do better.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
To take risks and to be tenacious. Don't be afraid to try something outside of the traditional path. Be authentic, and don't be afraid to show up authentically even if it's non-traditional. Show up to the front door somewhere and say hey, what do you need help with? I'm good at lots of things. If I'm not good at it, I'll become good at it. Don't just scroll through LinkedIn looking for a job, but think about what am I passionate about, and who's doing it, and let me go talk to them.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Listen first and then act second. If you're entering an industry of service like nonprofits, the key to success is to listen before you act. Listen to the partners first, listen to your community, listen to your partners. Listen to what they need and ask questions before you try and pitch anything. Think of yourself as a student among students. Be aware of who you're serving and be humble to learn about them and learn about their needs before you try and assert your own needs on top of it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Challenges are trust, mission creep, and division. There's opportunity for alignment across partners and collaboration needs to increase between organizations. Competition between people who are trying to do the same thing should decrease. Marketing and imaging is a big thing for how donors choose, and I want to see the industry continue to become more evidence-based so donor dollars go where the service is the best, not where the marketing is the best.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is huge - to do what you say that you're going to do and to be forthright about what that is. You are as good as your word. It's all about trust. Service is everything that I do, coming from a place of a value system of not selfish gain. If you're a person of integrity who has a service-oriented mindset, partnerships just come out of the woodwork.
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