Alexa Varriano

Alexa Varriano has been working with youth in some capacity for the better part of the past two decades. After graduating from college, Alexa set off to work for a variety of activist nonprofit organizations across Eastern Europe, first as a Fulbright Scholar in Romania and then as a communications coordinator at an Albanian activist organization called MJAFT! (“Enough!” in Albanian). After two years working on the front lines of political and social activism in Albania, Alexa co-founded her own organization called Tamam, which focuses on empowering marginalized youth in Tirana’s informal areas through art, English language classes, annual summer camps, and international youth exchanges. Following this experience she pursued a Masters degree at Oxford University in Evidence Based Social Intervention. Armed with on the ground experience and a tool kit that would have most likely led to policy work, she finally returned to the United States. Once back in NY, she became a NYC Teaching Fellow and has since taught at Pan American International High School in the Bronx as well as the sister school in Queens. During this time, Alexa worked with the Illuminated Cities Project as the high school fellows coordinator and has since been involved with the organization in an advisory capacity. Now, she advocates for English Language Learners systemwide as a district ML/ELL services administrator in Brooklyn North.