Alissa Deakin, LMSW

Chief Program Officer

As Chief Program Officer, Alissa Deakin is responsible for ensuring the delivery of the highest quality programs and services both for Little Flower and its affiliate, St. John’s Residence for Boys. Alissa was part of the team that created the most recent Strategic Plan and is the captain of the pillar that focuses on implementing services aligned with best practices, community needs and resources, and promising practices. Alissa coordinates the agency’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) initiative and continuously works to ensure that the agency’s DEIB values are woven into our work.

Alissa has been involved in a number of sizable projects since joining Little Flower’s leadership team in 2016 such as co-coordinating the relocation of our NYC offices and co-leading accreditation through the Council on Accreditation.

Prior to joining Little Flower, Alissa was the Executive Director of St. John’s Residence for Boys. In this capacity, Alissa oversaw the agency’s finances, compliance contractual issues, and programmatic operations.  Among her accomplishments were opening two Close to Home juvenile justice programs, doubling the agency’s revenue, and restoring and rebuilding operations after the agency was devastated by Superstorm Sandy.  Before St. John’s, Alissa started her career at the Salvation Army, Social Services of Greater New York, where she started as a caseworker and rose through the ranks to become Assistant Director of the Group Home department.

Alissa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University and Master of Social Work degree from New York University.