Alyssa Brown
Alyssa
Brown Story By:
Natasha Helme
W
hen Alyssa was young, she aspired to become a lawyer. However, when she graduated from Florida State University with a degree in English, she decided she did not want to go to law school. Instead, she started to pursue a career in public communications. And through her career, Alyssa has worked with many people to learn and accomplish many things. As the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Public Policy, Alyssa works as a designated professional lobbyist with local and federal elected officials to promote economic
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development through laws and policies. She monitors legislation that attracts companies to and keeps companies in the Gainesville area. Alyssa will also intervene if a piece of legislation may cause the Greater Gainesville area to become less company friendly. Ultimately, Alyssa’s goal is to enhance economic opportunities for businesses because “when business opportunities are greater, things become better for everyone.” However, Alyssa’s hard work for the Greater Gainesville area does not stop with public policies and economic development. In the wake of George
Floyd’s death in May 2020, Alyssa led an effort for the Chamber to talk about race in an honest way. Members of the Greater Gainesville community wanted to know what the Chamber’s thoughts were and what they planned to do in response. And although Alyssa and other Chamber members knew they did not have an answer due to the issue’s many conflicts, they knew they could start with an honest dialogue. With this dialogue, Alyssa and other Chamber members recognized that this can be the start of making things more equitable; and when you are making things more
equitable, you are doing what you can to help navigate a complex and significant issue. Before Alyssa began working for the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, she had a few defining moments in her life. One of these moments happened when she worked for a commission outside of Gainesville. After being hired, one of her coworkers began to antagonize her, most oftenly by criticizing her through email with nearly 100 people cc’d. After enduring this for a year, Alyssa approached her
