Communications Manager

Allena (she/they) is a communicator, community builder, and storyteller who believes the strongest stories are rarely created at a desk. They come from conversations, relationships, and the people willing to share what they've learned.

Allena has lived, worked, and played on the unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations for the past three years. She holds an M.Sc. in Transition, Innovation and Sustainability Environments, an international Erasmus Mundus joint master's program that took them across Europe. She worked alongside a multicultural, interdisciplinary cohort of 23 people from 23 countries to tackle wicked problems and work towards societal transitions for sustainable environments. That experience showed them that complex challenges rarely have one discipline, one organization, or one person who can solve them alone.

Allena joined CityHive as our Communications Manager, bringing more than seven years of experience in communications, community engagement, and climate and civic work. She has worked across nonprofit, youth, climate, marketing, consulting, and professional services settings, with a common thread of making complex ideas understandable, accessible, and meaningful to the people they're for. 

Allena sees communications as an invitation. She approaches storytelling by listening first and by making sure people own their stories rather than simply being featured in them. Allena's journey with CityHive began at one of our events, the first she attended after moving to Vancouver, and she is thrilled to now help share the stories that show what becomes possible when young people play an active role in shaping our cities and communities.

Outside of work, you can find Allena learning a new language, knitting, getting lost in a book, or caring for animals as a foster parent.