Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom

Alicia is a Senior Program Manager.

She oversees projects related to out-of-school time and bridging research with policy and practice. Alicia joined the Forum in 2002. Her work focuses on improving out-of-school time systems and after-school policy development; increasing program quality in the allied youth fields; and engagement of young people in public policy processes. She recently completed a project documenting three efforts to improve program quality across national, state and city youth-serving systems and collaborated on a national survey of the professional characteristics, realities and supports for frontline youth workers.

Prior to her work at the Forum, Alicia served as a program manager in the Adolescent Division of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation where she was responsible for developing curriculum and launching the Trainer Certification Program, an intensive program to prepare community-level trainers in youth development. She also managed four regional youth worker and teacher training initiatives in Detroit and Kalamazoo, Michigan; Omaha, Nebraska and the city of Newcastle in the United Kingdom.

Alicia is a skilled trainer and has extensive and diverse experience in both the direct youth work and policy arenas. Alicia has contributed articles to the Encyclopedia of Youth Activism, New Directions in Youth Development, the Harvard Family Research Project and the Community Youth Development Journal. Alicia has also served on the boards of Break Away and the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning.

Alicia has participated in several fellowship and service programs including the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, the New Leaders Academy of the National Youth Employment Coalition, the Moody Exchange Fellowship for Professional Study in South Africa and the AmeriCorps service program.

Alicia earned a Master of Public Policy degree and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Calvin College.