CAUSES

ALZHEIMER'S ADVOCACY 

national activist

Throughout her childhood, Alissa's grandmother, Mary Fran Anderegg, struggled with Alzheimer's disease. While growing up, Alissa quickly realized that the Alzheimer's community lacked a voice for what she now calls "the forgotten generation" of Alzheimer's: the child caregivers. Since then, she has become one of the nation's leading young Alzheimer’s advocates with her mission to empower other young caregivers. Her story has reached millions around the world in the Emmy-winning HBO documentary The Alzheimer’s Project, the TV show Young Icons, Maria Shriver’s Women's Alzheimer's Movement national campaign, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, AOL, Huffington Post, National Public Radio, Larry King Live, the Alzheimer’s Association Annual Report, her national keynote speaking tour, and her contribution to the publications The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s and Alzheimer’s in America, among others. Additionally, Alissa has lobbied in Washington D.C. for the Alzheimer's Association, used her social media expertise to support the association's inaugural Social Media Leadership Team, and donated her time as Director of Marketing and Executive Board Member of The Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s (acquired by Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity) and National Champion for CaringKind: The Heart of Alzheimer’s Caregiving. For the past four years, Alissa has served as a member of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Young Professionals Committee.

BEAUTY WITH A PURPOSE

miss world america 2020

MISS WORLD NEW YORK 2020

Miss world america beauty with a purpose winner 2020

Beauty with a Purpose, established in 1972 by Miss World CEO Julia Morley, has become the heart of the Miss World organization. The initiative operates on a global scale, raising millions every year for good causes and working with tens of thousands of unique humanitarian projects. So far, more than $1 billion has been donated to local and international organizations in aid of disadvantaged children around the globe. Each year, Miss World and Miss World America award the Beauty with a Purpose Award to the contestant with the most relevant and important charity project.

As Miss World New York, Alissa was honored with the Beauty with a Purpose Award at the Miss World America 2020 competition for her commitment to Alzheimer’s advocacy. As Miss World America 2020, Alissa has participated in 110+ Beauty with a Purpose community service events, meetings, and fundraisers, 20+ interviews, 15 photoshoots, and counting.

WOMEN'S ALZHEIMER'S MOVEMENT

woman leader

As a result of a decade-long partnership with Maria Shriver's Alzheimer's advocacy efforts, Alissa was selected as a Woman Leader of the national campaign, Maria Shriver's Wipe Out Alzheimer's Challenge. In 2017, it was rebranded as The Women's Alzheimer's Movement in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association, My Brain, and A Woman's Nation, whose book she was a contributing author for in 2010. Alissa and leading advocates from around the world including Anne Romney, Brooke Shields, Shonda Rhimes and Senator Barbara Mikulski are featured as the "inspirational women who have stood on the front lines of the fight against Alzheimer’s." Check out her feature and then take the pledge to use your brain to #WipeOutAlz.

THE SHRIVER REPORT

contributing author

The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary anthology of every facet of Alzheimer’s disease—medical, sociological, political and economic. The academic core of the report is composed of expert reviews of issues and trends, with analysis backed by the nationwide Alzheimer’s Association Women and Alzheimer’s Poll of 3,118 adults, including more than 500 Alzheimer’s caregivers.

But there’s more to Alzheimer’s than numbers. This report includes original photography by award-winning photojournalist Barbara Kinney and a kaleidoscope of personal essays. Contributors include Barbra Streisand, Terrell Owens, Soleil Moon Frye, ABC News “Nightline” anchor Terry Moran, CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen, former First Lady Laura Bush, President Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis, Alzheimer’s Study Group chairs Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Bob Kerrey, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Vice President Joe Biden. In addition, extraordinarily honest and moving essays by a diverse group of Americans—including teenage caregivers and women who are living with the disease today— further illustrate the toll Alzheimer’s is taking on the American landscape."