Alison Waliszewski

About Alison Waliszewski

Alison Waliszewski is a certified TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) Advisor, accredited through the Green Business Certification Inc.(GBCI) Zero Waste program, and a 2025 National Committee on U.S.–China Relations Professional Fellows Program (PFP) Fellow with nearly 15 years of experience in environmental policy, circular economy innovation, and coalition-based advocacy.As the former Director of Regional Policy and Program Development at the 5 Gyres Institute, Alison led legislative campaigns and grassroots initiatives that turned community science into data-driven policy. She mobilized volunteers, nonprofits, and lawmakers to reduce plastic pollution and expand reuse systems nationwide.She has chaired multiple reuse and legislative coalitions in California and Texas, leading collaborative efforts to reduce waste in parks and public lands and strengthen local and state-level zero-waste policy frameworks. Alison also serves as Board Secretary for the Yosemite Climbing Association, guiding governance, fundraising, and conservation partnerships.Earlier in her career, Alison spent more than a decade in Baltimore City, collaborating with residents on green infrastructure for trees, trash, and stormwater management while developing multigenerational programs in museums and ceramic arts centers.A practicing artist with a BFA in Ceramics from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), she has exhibited her work in France, Italy, and the United States, including in the permanent collection of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights in Florence, Italy.

Experience

1. Board Secretary

   Yosemite Climbing Association And Museum

   Nov 2024 — Present

Education

• Maryland Institute College of Art

  Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ceramics

  2009 — 2013