AS CHAIRWOMAN OF THRIVE, ALISA CRIDER HELPS ILLUMINATE YOUNG PROFESSIONAL’S FUTURES.
In lieu of passing a gavel at a recent meeting, Julia Rust, tHRive’s immediate past chairwoman, “was making a beautiful speech … and she handed me a blue flashlight and turned it on. I have of course kept that flashlight. … And I definitely plan on passing that on to create a tradition,” Crider said.
Established a little over two years ago, tHRive is the young professionals program of the Hampton Roads Chamber. The organization has grown to nearly 1,900 members.
A Virginia Beach native who resides in Norfolk, Crider attended Thalia Elementary, Independence Middle School and Princess Anne High School. She kept it local, going on to Virginia Wesleyan University. She majored in communications with a focus in journalism and minored in business and sociology.
In addition to her new leadership position with tHRive, Crider is also is public relations coordinator of Hampton Roads Transit. She’s been with that organization for two years.
“I LIKE MY FIELD”
“In school I had started studying education – both my parents were school teachers and I always just thought, ‘Well, I guess I’ll do that too. I’d be great with kids.’ But end of sophomore year I kind of took a turn. I like my field because it’s very broad and I feel like I’ve been able to dive into many different areas from marketing to public relations to social media.”
Crider formerly worked for the chamber and was involved in tHRive’s formation.
THE BEGINNING
“(Chamber) president and CEO, Bryan Stephens, sat down with (chamber events director) Anne Baumler and myself and we all kind of talked about this missing void, this need for a young professional group. The chamber had had one years ago and it ended up not lasting and I think we attribute that mainly to because it was run solely by (the) chamber.
“There were no other people involved other than the members. The big thing about tHRive is we have a chamber liaison; most everyone else on the board is not an employee of the chamber. We’re lawyers, and communications professionals and in real estate – all industries. So it’s a lot more diverse, which I think is important.”
THE AGENDA
“We’re going to continue to focus on this professional development, relationship building and community involvement for all young professionals in Hampton Roads. In 2018, we’re really going to concentrate on issues that matter most to them. So that means taking an active role in public policy and effectively advocating on the key issues that will shape our future and our region.
“We had a few polls last year, but we really want to have more this year on the issues that matter most. We were able to identify some issues in a recent poll that we will continue to act on this year. … Transportation both public and private (for instance), we learned in a survey last year actually that 59.6, almost 60 percent of millennials think public transportation is the most important issue for the progress of the region.
“So they want to see the region connected. They see the advantage of that. Maybe for some it’s for them to use and maybe for others, they see the value of it when we have tourists and people coming here and they want to see all of our different cities and what they offer.
“If you don’t have a good public transportation system, that’s going to be lot more difficult.”
Other important issues for millenials include K-12 education, the workforce gap and resiliency, she said.
FACILITATING REGIONALISM
“I’m too humble and I don’t think I could say I want to be the next mayor, but I really personally think in my time here in Hampton Roads … I’d love to see a mayor of Hampton Roads, someone that oversees the seven city mayors and just kind of helps with the regionalism effort.
“(The cities would) still have their own mayor and they’re focused on the city, but there’s someone over all of them that could say, ‘Hey Chesapeake, don’t do that – that’s really going to be harmful to Norfolk.'”
AWAY FROM WORK
“I love to dance. I’ve been very involved for the past six years with Dance Trance Virginia Beach. It’s choreographed dance routines – it’s a real mixture of hip-hop, ballet, jazz – really all the types of dance I grew up doing. It’s a fitness class and it’s a wonderful group of girls that have become true friends. I’m there at least twice a week.
I love living downtown, walking and biking and going to The Main and Waterside District, the new attractions here in downtown. Happy hours at dinner with friends and then on a night when I just want to relax, it’ll be a good movie with my roommate. I’m definitely a bit of a social butterfly.”
