Alyssa is an experienced business executive with a career spanning the financial services, strategy consulting, consumer retailing and non-profit sectors in the US and UK. Alyssa is the Associate Director of the Entrepreneurship Initiative at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and an Adjunct Professor and Entrepreneur-in-Residence. She also works extensively with the local business leaders and entrepreneurs to ensure a close connection between the activities on campus and the needs of the broader professional community.
Alyssa began her career on Wall Street as a commercial lender for Bankers Trust Company (now Deutsche Bank), and later joined management consultants McKinsey & Company as a specialist in the financial services sector. Alyssa moved to McKinsey’s London office and remained with the firm until leaving to launch her own entrepreneurial venture, the Great Little Trading Company (GLTC Ltd). GLTC became a brand leader in children’s products; in addition to receiving various industry awards and recognition as one of the UK’s 100 fastest growing mid-market companies. After stepping down from day-to-day management of the company, Alyssa became an advisor to entrepreneurial start-ups throughout the UK and an active member of the London Business Angels network.

Upon returning to the US in 2007, Alyssa expanded her interest in entrepreneurship and began advising non-profit organizations. She also launched New Venture Mentors, a platform to support aspiring entrepreneurs from underserved communities.

An active member of the local community, Alyssa’s other interests include promoting education, opportunities for the intellectually disabled, and the advancement of underprivileged women and girls. She has served on the boards of the National Children’s Museum, Compass DC, ProInspire, and Working Families (UK), and on the Maryland advisory board of Best Buddies International. She is also an active supporter of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, Teach for America DC, NFTE (the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship), and BUILD.

Alyssa received her B.A. from Harvard University in Government and her MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and four children.

Dr. Deschamps currently serves as a senior research associate at TransCen, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to improving educational and employment outcomes for people with disabilities. She provides technical assistance to staff of Maryland PROMISE, a five-year initiative addressing the needs of youth, ages 14-16, receiving Supplemental Security Income and their families. She also coordinates the Mid-Atlantic ADA (American with Disabilities Act) Leadership Network, providing professional development to ADA trainers in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Previously, Dr. Deschamps provided support to Maryland counties through the Maryland Seamless Transition Collaborative (MSTC), which provides youth with disabilities the opportunity to participate in enhanced career assessments, paid job experiences, support services, and leadership activities. Dr. Deschamps also collaborates with other TransCen team members to design relevant online training opportunities for transition practitioners.

Dr. Deschamps previously served as Director of Training and Evaluation for TransCen’s ADA Information Center for the Mid-Atlantic Region before becoming a Transition Specialist with the Fairfax County Public School system in Northern Virginia for nine years. There, she provided consultation, training, and technical support to special education personnel in Career and Transition Services. She also served as a consultant to the Johnson Scholarship Foundation in Florida, where she advised the Board of Directors on disability programming specifically related to the transition from school to life after school, alongside career development for college students with disabilities. Dr. Deschamps has also taught children with learning and emotional disabilities. Dr. Deschamps received her B.A and her doctorate in Special Education from The George Washington University, specializing in disability policy and transition from school to work for students with disabilities. She lives in Northern Virginia and has two adult children.

John Sheffield is a technology entrepreneur focused on early-stage and growth startups. John co-founded and served as president of Seven Bridges Genomics (SBG), which develops and operates an informatics platform for biotechnology and healthcare research with high-throughput DNA sequencing data. He is now a partner at Linnaean Company, which operates a portfolio of web businesses and provides operational and strategic consulting services for entrepreneurial companies.

John received his B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. He also earned an MSc in Applied Statistics from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar. John resides in Cambridge, MA.

Dr. McLeod is the Executive Director of the Aspire Program of Massachusetts General Hospital (“MGH”), a program serving individuals with the autism spectrum disorder, which he has led since 1991. He is also a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard University, in addition to being engaged in private practice. He was previously employed jointly as the Chief Psychologist at the MGH Charlestown HealthCare Center until 2013. However, since August 2013, Dr. McLeod has devoted himself full time to the Aspire Program. Dr. McLeod was also employed from 1995 to 2006 as the Clinical Supervisor at Harvard University’s “Inventing the Future” Program, where he supervised students in the “Risk and Prevention Program” of the Graduate School of Education. Prior to serving in these capacities, Dr. McLeod was a staff psychologist at Dana Group Associates, serving individuals with ADHD, and The Germaine Lawrence Diagnostic Center where he performed psychological testing.

Dr. McLeod has been awarded the Emerson Award for excellence in research amongst fellows at the Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the Judge Ruffin Award for excellence in youth work given by the Charlestown District Court. Dr. McLeod completed his master’s and doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from Boston University and received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.

Dr. McLeod lives in Medway, Massachusetts with his wife, Jeanne, a clinical social worker. He has one child, two cats and a newfound interest in curling.

William R. Stixrud, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist and the founder of The Stixrud Group. He is also a faculty member at Children’s National Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Stixrud is the co-author, with Ned Johnson, of the national best-selling book, The Self-Driven Child (Viking Books, 2018). Dr. Stixrud and Mr. Johnson have also written a critically-acclaimed second book, What Do You Say? Talking with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home (Viking Books, 2021), and recently released a third book in February 2025.

Dr. Stixrud’s work has been featured in media outlets such as NPR, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times of London, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Time Magazine, Scientific American, Business Week, Barron &, New York Magazine, and Vogue.

Dr. Stixrud’s approach to neuropsychological assessment has been shaped by an appreciation of the importance of identifying the strengths of children, teens, and young adults, as it is their strengths that they will use to find their way in the world. It is also based on the belief that people are always doing the best they can at any given time – and on the belief that one of the best things we can do for young people is to accept them as they are – and to see their challenges as part of “their path” to creating a satisfying life.

Dr. Stixrud is a long-time practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, and he plays in the rock band Close Enough.