Riisa wants to influence policies that directly affect young people. Her background in not-for-profit management gives her first-hand exposure to the challenges these organizations face. It was the School's reputation and resources that led her to Brown.

"Whatever I did, I knew that I wanted to impact the lives of people, but didn't want to be a lobbyist. One day I hope to venture into politics.

"I wanted to go to the best school that I possibly could to prepare me for the future. I didn't want cost to stand in my way. The Brown School is highly ranked, plus it has a lot of resources to tap for financial assistance."

Since receiving her MSW Riisa has had many varied opportunitites to put the knowledge she acquired at the Brown School to practice. 

"I am a founding consultant with Chrysalis providing training and consultation primarily to faith-based and youth serving organizations. 

"I have also had the privilege of working for the past two years as the Director of Community Relations for the St. Louis Regional Health Commission.  My tenure at the RHC gave me an opportunity to facilitate work around reducing the stigma associated with mental illness and increasing cultural competence in service provision."

In this next stage of her career, Riisa is combining her education, experience, skills and passion to develop a framework for instructing youth and those who serve them in the areas of cultural competence, mental wellness and stigma reduction. 

"It is my hope that this framework will become a replicable model that will serve as an effective approach to providing more healthy environments for youth; one in which every student feels valued and respected and every student has access to the resources needed to address any health issues that may emerge to disrupt the student's ability to achieve his/her greatest potential."