Alyssa Edling

Alyssa Edling is the advocacy coordinator for PEN America’s Washington, D.C., office. She previously interned with PEN America while completing a master’s degree in human rights and ethics at American University. Edling has also worked in environmental education in rural West Virginia, wilderness guiding in Alaska, and humanitarian aid to migrants and refugees in the United States and Europe. Her interest in human rights was sparked largely by her experiences providing aid at the U.S./Mexico border with the migrant advocacy group No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes.

Edling received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology and public policy at UCLA, where she reported, produced, and edited videos for the Daily Bruin. Edling also interned in campaign management and advocacy with the American Cancer Society. She is writing her first science fiction novel.