OL Reign Legend: Alecia Cunningham - Senior Manager of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships at Southwest Youth and Family Services

The Legends Campaign, a partnership between OL Reign and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to the June 18th match against Angel City FC, OL Reign recognized Alecia Cunningham, Senior Manager of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships at Southwest Youth and Family Services.

Cunningham is a leader and inspiration for the community. An outspoken advocate for youth development and lifelong learner, she previously worked for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington as the Director of Corporate Sponsorships. In this role, Cunningham helped to develop many systems for the organization that are still used today, while also instilling the values of growth and education in young women.

Cunningham has done incredible work in the youth services space to ensure that the children in our community are getting the support they need. She also is passionate about working gender equity and supporting our young leaders. In 2020, she was recognized by South Sound Business Journal in their 2020 Class of 40 under 40.

“Youth development is the core of what I prefer to do in my career,” shared Cunningham. “It’s very personal because I’m a mom myself and even if my children don’t have an opportunity to be impacted by the programs that I support, at least I know that someone else’s child is.”

Cunningham has been able to achieve her career goals through a lot of hard work and commitment to her personal values. She started her career with the Girl Scouts in Membership and Recruitment, but later shifted to working on the Philanthropy team.

“I just kind of rolled my sleeves up and got right to it. I didn’t really fall into anything. I had to start from the beginning and work my way up. I honestly had to get knocked around a little bit. When I moved into Philanthropy, I had to manage something that was conceptualized from virtually nothing and then sort of make a name for myself and build those relationships within the community,” said Cunningham.

Throughout the ups and downs of her journey, Cunningham has remained true to herself and continuously aligned herself with her personal values, and that is what she is most proud of.

“I had to decide what I really wanted to align myself with, mission and vision, and that’s how I really got to where I am today. The mission and vision of everything I do in my personal life and career has to align with my values. I have to be true to myself and I have to do what I know is right. I have to make sure that I’m making an impact. I guess this is a cliché, but I want to leave everything better than I found it. That’s really important to me. I want to leave a footprint in whatever it is that I do. I want to see a change for the better in whatever I add value to,” she shared.

“It’s important to me that we are the catalyst for change,” Cunningham elaborated. “We have to leave this world better than we found it. I’m doing this for my children and my children’s children. Youth development is the core of what we do. Making sure that our youth are supported in the way they are supposed to be. Gender equity all around. Supporting our young leaders is the number one thing to focus on.”

As an incredible advocate for youth development, Cunningham would give the following advice to young girls and women pursuing a dream in fields they are underrepresented in.

“Don’t apologize for being who you are. Stay strong and know that you deserve it. Know that you are worth it. Ask for the things that you know you deserve. Don’t just sit back and things will happen for you. Make it happen for yourself. You are the biggest for yourself.”

When asked what it meant to her to be honored as an OL Reign Legend, Cunningham shared nothing but gratitude.

“It means so much to be honored. I don’t do this work for the recognition. I do this work to make an impact, but the fact that I am being recognized for doing this work is so important to me. It’s so wonderful. I’m definitely at a turning point in my career where I’m now in a leadership role and so I’m now in this space where I’m leading others and showing them what is possible for themselves. I love and I value this opportunity,” concluded Cunningham.