Alison Desir

Founder, The Harlem Run – New York, NY

Named by Women’s Running as one of twenty women who are changing the sport of running and the world and by The Root 100 as one of the most influential African Americans, ages 25 to 45, Alison is a mental health counselor, endurance athlete, activist, highly -sought after speaker, and community organizer. She is the founder of Harlem Run (an NYC-based running movement) and Run 4 All Women (an initiative that has raised over $150,000 for Planned Parenthood), and just launched the podcast Finding Meaning (on the RUN), available on iTunes, Google Music, SoundCloud and Stitcher.  Alison is currently featured alongside American Ballet Theatre® principal ballerina Misty Copeland, world champion sprinter Natasha Hastings, professional stuntwoman Jessie Graff, and Chinese taekwondo champion and actress Zoe Zhang (Lanxin Zhang) in Under Armor’s latest global campaign, Unlike Any, which celebrates and honors the unprecedented achievements of female athletes that rise above gender comparisons and stand on their own as marvels of athletic prowess.

Passionate about community, mental health and fitness, Alison’s nickname, “powdered feet,” comes from the Haitian Kreyol saying, which describes a person so active that you never see them, just the footprints of where they’ve been in powder. Alison started running distance after a period of depression, and, over the past 4 years, has been able to Find Meaning on the Run. When Alison is not running, she is working to resolve and speaking passionately about issues related to women and girls.

Alison has a wealth of grassroots marketing experience as well as expertise in building authentic and engaging communities around health and wellness.  Alison holds her BA in History, MA in Latin American and Caribbean Regional Studies, and MA & EdM in Counseling Psychology, all from Columbia University.