Builder of authentic, purpose-driven communities. Founder of Vibe Coworks, the West Sound region’s largest shared workspace and coworking community. Passionate about innovation, community entrepreneurship and meaningful social impact.
At the age of 21, Alanna began work as a social worker in Madrid, Spain at the height of the West African ‘boat people crisis’. An expired residency permit and die-hard determination to effect global policy change around migration policy landed her in Geneva, Switzerland where, at the age of 23, she began to speak regularly at the United Nations. In the 13 years that followed, Alanna had the fortune of living and working across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, gaining extensive experience in issues related to migrants and refugees, global health, water, sanitation and women’s rights.
Her work in global policy, advocacy, public relations and media strategy with the UN Refugee Agency, UN World Food Programme, International Catholic Migration Commission and WaterAid instilled within her a deep passion for achieving social impact through innovation and cross-sector collaboration that includes government, private sector and grass root community groups. Alanna has a proven track record of success in securing media placements across outlets including BBC, CNN, NPR, PRI The World, Newsweek, New York Times, USA Today and more.
In 2017, Alanna packed up house, home and her then-2-year-old twin girls to move 2,800 miles cross country and found Vibe Coworks in Poulsbo, WA. The premise? That each of us should be able to do the work that we love from the place that we love.
Eight months later, Vibe Coworks was named Emerging Business of the Year by the Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce, and in 2018 Alanna was named Young Leader of the Year by the same Chamber. In 2019, Vibe Coworks was named Best Meeting Place in North Kitsap by the Best of Kitsap Awards. Alanna was named a 20 Under 40 Honoree by Leadership Kitsap in 2019 and, in 2021 was named a 40 Under 40 Honoree by South Sound Business.
Recognized as a big picture, strategic systems thinker adept at cultivating collaborative relationships that produce creative cross-sector solutions, Alanna is currently working to expand the Vibe Coworks footprint across multiple locations while fostering local startup ecosystems.
