Her Story
About Alyssa
Alyssa Carter is a dedicated child welfare and nonprofit professional with 16 years of experience in the field. She began her career after earning her bachelor's degree with a role at Missouri Children's Division in child welfare, followed by 10 years as a licensing specialist for foster homes. This experience deepened her understanding of the foster care and child welfare systems, including gaps in support for families. She joined KCMO Angels as its first hire and has advanced to a program leadership role as Program Director. In this position, she manages a caseload of about 30 matches, provides coaching and empowerment to volunteers and families, leads the programs team, oversees training and compliance, and drives volunteer recruitment through community partnerships. Based in North Kansas City, Missouri, she is passionate about creating healthy relationships and connections for children in foster care.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Alyssa
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If you've got a heart for kids and families, foster care is tied to many issues in society like homelessness and human trafficking. Not everybody can foster or adopt, but everybody can do something to make a difference in the life of a child. Whatever your thing is, there's a pathway to get involved and change those statistics through community empowerment.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Finding volunteers amid the economy is challenging. We need more volunteers who grasp the intention of our programs. We've tripled participant referrals this year and are growing substantially, so keeping up with volunteer recruitment to match families is key.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being curious, having unconditional positive regard for people, treating people the way you want to be treated, being kind, no judgment, focusing on people's strengths, and empowering others. It's important that everyone has a place and can do something, even if just one person.
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