Alysson graduated from Brown University in 2003 with a degree in international relations. While there she focused her coursework on separatism and Indonesian Islamic politics. She spent a summer interning with a French think tank based out of Paris where she wrote an article to be included in a dossier for the French Department of Defense.

For the next four years Alysson worked in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, based out of Jakarta and out of Dili, with a U.S. non-profit. She worked at different times on political party development, civil society strengthening, civic education and electoral and judicial reform. Most of the time was spent traveling around both countries – at one point she spent six weeks traveling from village to village in Timor-Leste with a theater group, demonstrating how a democracy works and how to participate constructively between elections.

Alysson is currently beginning her second year at SAIS, where she is pursuing an M.A. degree in international economics and Southeast Asia Studies. She spent the past summer in Cambodia advising a small opposition political party. She intends to pursue a career in public service.