I Am YNPN Boston: Alicia Ridenour

Meet Alicia Ridenour, Associate Director of Sole Train: Boston Runs Together at Trinity Boston Foundation. Alicia is also a YNPN Boston ambassador on our Partnerships & Fundraising team!

Name: Alicia Ridenour
Profession: Associate Director of Sole Train: Boston Runs Together
Organization: Trinity Boston Foundation
Favorite Quote: “I’d ask them that they carry what they are with your particular bearing, as you wear the flaws that make you both yourself and human.” Adrienne Rich, Stepping Backward, From A Change of World

Best Way to Relax After a Long Week: Meeting with friends over food and wine.

Describe Your Professional Journey:

I started my career as an AmeriCorps VISTA in New York City, at the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies at the City College of New York (CCNY). I worked on multiple initiatives, but much of my time was spent building a mentoring program for middle school youth in the surrounding Harlem community. After my experience at CCNY, I knew I wanted to continue working with young people, but that I needed to get more direct service under my belt. Thus I decided to take a job with Roads to Success, delivering a college, career, and life skills program in the classroom at two high schools in the Bronx. I moved to Boston to join my (now) husband a couple of years later and took a job with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, coordinating site-based programming in schools and after-school programs. At that point I decided that in order to eventually move into program management, I needed to earn a graduate degree. I spent three years at Boston University, earning a Master’s of Social Work (specializing in management) and a Master’s of Public Health (concentrating in maternal and child health) before moving into my current role as Associate Director of Sole Train: Boston Runs Together, a program of the Trinity Boston Foundation. We are a free, non-competitive, long distance running program based at Boston Public Schools and Department of Youth Services facilities. We invite youth, most of whom have little running experience, to train for a half marathon or five mile race. With the support of strong, safe communities, youth have fun, realize their potential, and accomplish goals they may never have thought possible.

What Does Professional Development Mean to You?

I think that professional development can take any number of forms. Professional development is anything that furthers your learning, piques your interest, develops your skills, brings you new relationships, etc. It’s anything that facilitates your ability to do work that makes your heart sing.

Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?

I see myself still working for Sole Train at the Trinity Boston Foundation. We are currently deepening our impact and plan to expand the number of youth we reach in the coming years. I hope that in five years we will be serving many more youth in Boston Public Schools and that I will be a part the growth of the Sole Train family.