Alyssa Manning

Since joining the staff in 2012, Alyssa Manning has been gifted with the opportunity to draw on her rural background, focusing on rural philanthropy through the work of the Foundation’s supporting organization, the Felix E. Martin Jr. Foundation. Alyssa oversees grantmaking and community-building work in Muhlenberg County, supporting and driving initiatives focused on economic development, education, community collaboration, and quality-of-life projects.

Through her work with the Martin Foundation, Alyssa has had the opportunity to serve on many committees advancing Muhlenberg projects and organizations, including the Advisory Council for the Felix E. Martin Jr. Performing Arts Center; the Muhlenberg Civic Leadership Institute; the founding executive committee for More Vision, More Muhlenberg; community coalitions focused on education; tourism and health; and several special committees for Muhlenberg Alliance for Progress.

Alyssa is also a graduate of Leadership Kentucky, the Kentucky Institute for Economic Development, the SECF Hull Fellows Program, and CNPE’s Destination Excellence Program.

Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked nationally and internationally as a production stage manager for theatre, opera, and dance companies across the country, including the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, before settling in Louisville with Actors Theatre of Louisville and Kentucky Opera. Her Louisville career led her to Axxis Inc, where she produced and stage-managed national events for corporations across the country. She still loves a good production and will don a headset to call a show when she can make time.

Alyssa grew up in northern Maine, where she first developed her passion for supporting rural communities. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College. She has lived with her husband, Doc, in the Highlands of Louisville since 1999, where she anxiously awaits visits from her two college-aged children.