Who We Are
Our Team
Alyssa Norwood is Director of the Connecticut Age Well Collaborative initiative at Connecticut Community Care. Alyssa is a social entrepreneur, policy expert and attorney. She helped found and manage Sustainable CT, a voluntary certification program to accelerate municipal sustainability actions. She also led Connecticut’s livable communities initiative at the former Legislative Commission on Aging. She previously conducted policy work at the Connecticut Association of Directors of Health. She began her career as an attorney at the law firm of Robinson and Cole.
Alyssa earned her Juris Doctor with honors and her Master of Public Health Degree in Health Law and Policy from the University of Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Biology from Harvard University.
Alyssa lives in West Hartford with her remarkable husband and three children. She practices yoga, embraces Jewish life, runs, hikes, bikes, lets paint and poetry flow, and celebrates creative and inclusive placemaking. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200), end-of-life doula, and founder of Kosi Revaya, where she works to help students practice and clients affirm life with greater clarity and joy.
Karen Green is Administrative Coordinator for the Connecticut Age Well Collaborative. She has over 35 years of experience in event and program management, fundraising, and development. Karen is dedicated to bringing disability and accessibility awareness to our programs and serves as the part-time Program Manager for the ADA Coalition of Connecticut, providing training and technical assistance to ADA Coordinators across the state.
Karen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in Business and Industry from Saint Joseph College.
In addition to her passion for keeping people, projects, and programs organized and on-track, Karen is more than halfway through her quest to run a marathon in every US state and, along with her husband, enjoys hiking, camping, and spending time with their two grown and flown children.
Lesley Holford is Lead Communications Consultant for the Connecticut Age Well Collaborative. She is an independent design and communications consultant with over 20 years of experience offering complete creative services to nonprofits and businesses of all sizes.
Lesley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Art History from Smith College and has completed continuing education in design at School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design.
When she’s not pushing pixels or writing press releases, Lesley can be found digging in her garden, trying out new recipes, and exploring fiber art in all forms.
Miranda Chapman is a Community Facilitation Consultant for the Connecticut Age Well Collaborative. She is a skilled facilitator of awareness-based processes and a community weaver with almost 20 years of experience in change work through inner inquiry and meditation. In Montréal, she helped found an eco-conscious yoga and meditation space and co-created the first large-scale, bilingual community yoga and meditation festival. Back in Connecticut, she was instrumental in the formation of Copper Beech Institute, a center for contemplative practice and compassionate action. She has worked with Connecticut Department of Corrections for over ten years, introducing meditation and mindfulness to folks who are incarcerated and the people that work in these facilities.
She earned her Bachelor of Honors in Politics at Queen’s University in Canada. She has also studied yoga, meditation, social and racial justice, and trauma-sensitivity in Canada, the United States, Argentina, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, and Nepal.
Miranda is passionate about her twin kiddos, singing, dismantling systems of oppression, dancing, and this magnificent planet Earth that we are all woven into.
Amanda King is a Community Engagement Consultant for the Connecticut Age Well Collaborative. She’s a lifelong learner who has spent time working with Area Agencies on Aging, universities, and in the public sector. Amanda is especially interested in expanding access to, and improving quality of, long-term services and supports with the goal of better experiences and health across age and ability.
Amanda earned her Master of Public Health in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Yale University and her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College. She can usually be found exchanging recipes at the dog park, exploring Connecticut’s trails, or lugging bags of books to and from the library.
