Partnerships Lead
Dot connector (who coincidentally also loves polka dots)
Alex Blandford
Alex brings a wealth of experience in mission-driven work to her role at The Developer Society.
With a background in public health, Alex tackles complex problems through collaboration and innovation. She's passionate about creating thriving communities through systemic solutions and accountability. For Alex, it's crucial to take a comprehensive, human-centred approach that puts the people most affected at the forefront.
She has a track record of bringing together diverse stakeholders for initiatives to improve wellbeing and services for those unfairly affected by broken and inequitable policies and systems. Her expertise spans multi-stakeholder partnerships, strategic planning, policy development, fundraising, program evaluation, event planning, and project management.
Before joining DEV, Alex worked on criminal justice and public health reform in the U.S., improving healthcare access for people in the justice system through policy work at various levels. Her role involved managing large grants, contributing to legislation, and providing strategic support.
As part of our partnerships team, Alex is a true connector at heart, building collaborative relationships with all kinds of mission-driven organisations. Having worked at not-for-profits for most of her career, she has a strong ability to intuitively understand each group's unique needs, then creatively and collaboratively finding the right strategies and digital tools to help them do even more.
Outside work, Alex loves many things. If she has to narrow it down for the purposes of a short overview, she really loves gardening indoors and out; cooking; traveling and checking out new places (and food! 🌮); and spending time with friends, family, and her cats - brothers Niles and Frasier 🐈⬛ 🐈⬛.
Alex's favourite revolutionary
When it comes to inspiring catalysts for change, few fire up Alex quite like the indomitable Stacey Abrams. This political powerhouse from Georgia has basically rewritten the playbook on community empowerment through grassroots organising and voter engagement. From her visionary leadership fighting voter suppression to her barrier-breaking gubernatorial run, Abrams epitomises using whatever policy levers and platforms you have to uplift underrepresented voices. Abrams' ability to unite diverse groups around shared causes and mobilise real action is beyond admirable. Her innovative, equity-focused approaches show how impactful authentic relationship-building can be in catalysing systemic change. In Abrams' tenacious, solutions-oriented spirit, Alex finds daily motivation to be a connector who brings people together to drive progress through principled collaboration.