Finsten

Alisa Finsten is the Senior Vice President of Community Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles. Previously, Alisa served as the Director of Grants and Finance in the Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security and Public Safety during the administrations of both Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Mayor Eric Garcetti. In that role, Alisa facilitated inter‐agency governing bodies, while developing and maintaining
relationships with grantors, and managed projects for federal Homeland Security and Public Safety grants
totaling upwards of $300 million. Alisa also served in the Mayor’s Office of Budget and Innovation. Alisa also serves as a member of the Board of Animal Services Commission for the City of Los Angeles.
Prior to coming to the Mayor’s Office in 2008, Alisa spent 10 years working for educational nonprofits in her native Boston, in New York and in Los Angeles, focusing on program administration and fundraising. Alisa started her career as an AmeriCorps member in Boston serving in an intergenerational program with Boston youth and seniors. She has dedicated her career to public service. She received a Bachelor
of Arts in Sociology at Brandeis University and a Master’s in Public Administration at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.