Alycia Santilli

President

Alycia Santilli, MSW, is Director of the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE), co-housed at Southern CT State University and the Yale School of Public Health. Building on her previous work as a community organizer – organizing people to influence state health policy – she started her research career to explore the important link between policy change and research. She began coordinating community-engaged research projects at the Yale School of Public Health in 2005. Alycia then joined CARE shortly after its inception in 2007 and has been integral in providing administrative oversight and strategic direction for the organization, quickly rising to a leadership position. In addition to managing grants, budgets, and human resources, she directed all research and other activities conducted in community settings, including organizing with low-income communities to develop health interventions.

Alycia brings research skills in survey design; recruitment of hard-to-reach study participants; project management; training lay-people in research, including data collection; IRB and data collection protocol development; and dissemination of research results to the community. In 2009, 2012, and 2015, she hired, trained, supervised, and directed 20 surveyors to complete >1200 household surveys in two months, as part of Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessment.

In 2016, Alycia transitioned to the role of Director when CARE merged Southern CT State University, bringing with her a decade of experience in community engagement and deep ties to the New Haven community. She has authored several academic papers and numerous community reports.

Alycia has a Masters in Social Work with a concentration in Community Organizing from the University of Connecticut. She received a BA in English and was certified in K-6 from Eastern Connecticut State University. Alycia is a Connecticut native and has lived in New Haven for nearly 15 years.