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Over 3,000 miles and three time zones separate Los Angeles from Cape Cod, but that West Coast city is where Alisa Galazzi was first exposed to nonprofit work and issues related to housing during the mid-90s. “I started volunteering at an organization, Inner-City Arts, in downtown skid row and they provided free art programming for children there who were homeless,” she said. “Watching the transformation that happened in the lives of those kids and the families was very moving and powerful and intoxicating.”
That was enough to prompt a career shift for Galazzi, who had previously worked in the field of television. Following 9/11, Galazzi and her husband Chris, the current executive director for the Cape Cod Maritime Museum in Hyannis, moved to Cape Cod to be closer to family.
Over the past 15 years, Galazzi has honed her skills and talents as an executive in the nonprofit world – she is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Gosnold on Cape Cod and previously served as the Executive Director for Alzheimer’s Services of Cape Cod & the Islands, all experiences she will draw upon in her newest role: CEO of HAC.
Last month, HAC’s Board of Directors announced the hiring of Galazzi, who lives in Orleans with her husband and their three children Francesca, 15, Michela, 14, and Eliana, 12. “Alisa has the perfect blend of leadership experience, proven skills, and personal passion to build on the great foundation of HAC’s services,” said David Augustinho, chair of HAC’s board of directors.
Galazzi will replace HAC’s current CEO and President Rick Presbrey, who founded the agency in 1974. Presbrey expressed confidence in Galazzi’s ability to lead the agency. “It is probably more important to me than anyone that HAC gets left in good hands,” he said. “Alisa is a very intelligent, well-organized, very talented and committed person.”
Galazzi is looking forward to helping address the region’s affordable housing issues. “Personally, I have seen firsthand how having stable, secure housing in a loved one’s life is literally a game changer,” she said. “This is an expensive place to live where wages are low. We have to think about the Cape from a broader perspective and the needs of our region and our workforce and trying to tie it all together. It is more than housing. It is economic development and it is self-sustainability.”
