ALESSANDRA WOLLNER
154 S 17th St Columbus, OH 43205
ale.wollner@gmail.com 206.696.4504
EDUCATION
May 2016
est. grad date
May 2010
grad date
Dec 2007
transfer date
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, Columbus, OH
MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing
Awards: Digital Media Prize for Outstanding Graduate Work—’14 and ’15, Office of Diversity
and Inclusion Grant, Honorable Mention in the Vandewater Poetry Prize
BROWN UNIVERSITY, Providence, RI
A.B. in English with Honors, Creative Nonfiction focus
Honors Thesis: Studies in Style, From Explanation to Exploration
Awards: Brown Internship Awards Program Fellowship
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, Washington, DC
Awards: Presidential Merit Scholarship, Member of University Honors Program
PUBLICATION
2015
BR O WN A L U MN I M A GA Z I NE
“Make Believeopolis” Personal essay on teaching college English at San Quentin State Prison.
2015
THE TOAST
“Fuck Her Raw” Personal essay/cultural commentary on language and seduction.
2015
APOGEE JOURNAL
“Get Hard: A Discussion of Hypermasculinity & Prison Politics” Conversation with Joe Loya,
author of The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell: Confessions of a Bank Robber, about Will Ferrell
and Kevin Hart’s film Get Hard.
WRITING & MARKETING
2014
MATTER, San Francisco, CA
Interim Outreach Manager. Developed targeted outreach experiments on Reddit, Facebook, and
other social media outlets to expand the app’s user base, analyzed and seeded original content
within the app to spur user engagement, pitched bloggers, journalists, and universities and
non-profits to start conversations about opportunities for strategic partnership.
2014
SAN QUENTIN NEWS, San Quentin Prison, CA
Mentor editor. Edited and fact checked pieces written by inmate-reporters for the inmate-run
paper, The San Quentin News. Worked individually with reporters to hone interview and
reporting skills.
2013
TIPPING POINT COMMUNITY, San Francisco, CA
Writing Consultant. Interviewed clients from a selection of Tipping Point grantee orgs, crafted
raw transcriptions into personal monologues for the 2013 annual report, gala, and website.
2012-13
G-DCAST, San Francisco, CA
Marketing Manager. Project managed: publicity for new films, web development, and product
launches. Compiled metrics and assessed viewership, conducted product research. Created
and managed recruitment plans for community programming. Maintained social media
outlets, composed press releases and weekly newsletters.
2010- cont.
BROWN ALUMNI MAGAZINE (BAM), Providence, RI
Freelancer. Source, pitch, and write profiles on alumnus of note.
2 0 0 7 -co n t . ROSANNA INC., Seattle, Washington
Writing Consultant. Ghostwrite Rosanna’s Table Talk, blog for company president, Rosanna
Bowles. Write copy for wholesale catalogues and press releases. Served as developmental editor
on Coming Home: A Seasonal Guide to Creating Family Traditions by Rosanna Bowles, published
by Stewart, Tabori & Chang.
TEACHING
2015
BROWN UNIVERSITY, Providence, RI
Guest lecturer, Editorial Mentor. Designed and facilitated a special topics workshop on ethical
storytelling, Feb ’15. Designed and facilitated the Sept ’15 day-long program kickoff retreat for
the center’s Storytellers for Good program. Currently acting as a year-long alumni mentor to
an undergraduate storyteller participating in Storytellers for Good.
2015
MOISHE HOUSE, Oakland, CA
Instructor. Developed and ran a six-week summer writing course with a focus on Jewish identity
in poetry and prose in partnership with Moishe House, East Bay.
2014-cont.
CREATING AWARENESS TOGETHER (KID C.A.T.), San Quentin Prison, CA
Teaching Artist. Facilitate creative writing a workshop series for KID CAT members (juvenile
offenders with life sentences).
2014-cont.
COLLEGE ESSAY DEVELOPMENT, Palo Alto, CA & Marin County, CA
Tutor. Work one-on-one on a weekly basis with high school seniors to develop strong personal
essays as part of their college application packages.
2013-cont.
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, Columbus, OH
Graduate Teaching Associate. Teach courses in creative nonfiction as well as analytical writing to
first year students. Graduate May 2016 with five semesters of college-level teaching.
2011-13
PRISON UNIVERSITY PROJECT (PUP), San Quentin Prison, CA
Instructor. Designed developmental English curricula with split emphasis on academic writing
and literary analysis. Co-taught six semesters of college-level English courses to inmate-students
at San Quentin Prison and tutored in the humanities coursework during study hall hours.
2012
CLASSROOM MATTERS, Berkeley, CA
Humanities Tutor, Administrative Assistant. Provided high school students with mentorship and
academic writing support in humanities coursework. Facilitated scheduling for tutors and
students, new client intake, and supported center operations.
2009-10
SPACE IN PRISON FOR ART AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION (SPACE), Providence, RI
Instructor, Grant Writer. Developed curriculum and facilitated high school level
English/creative writing classes at the Adult Correctional Institute of Rhode Island.
Successfully procured funding from Brown’s Creative Arts Council.
EVENT PLANNING
2014-15
WRITER’S HARVEST, Columbus, OH
Organizer. Coordinated annual MFA charity talent show and food drive to benefit the MidOhio Food Bank. Scouted and secured venue, recruited performers, designed posters and
composed messaging to promote show and food drive, liaised with the food bank to
coordinate drive. Solicited local businesses for door prize donations and MFA
alumnus/faculty for copies of published work. Oversaw event, recruited and organized
volunteer staff.
2015
MILK + HONEY, Black Rock City, NV
Camp Coordinator
Oversaw the planning and operation of the 70-person Burning Man camp, Milk + Honey.
Managed and supervised nine sub-committee leaders responsible for discrete aspects of camp.
Devised and facilitated annual winter leadership planning session, spearheaded projects in
infrastructure improvement, meal plan redesign, and increased community cohesion.
2012-14
MILK + HONEY, Black Rock City, NV
Registration Coordinator. Managed registration for Milk + Honey with two cross-country team
members. Developed project timeline, built online application form, composed registration
communications for potential campers, selected among applicants to create a cohesive camp
community, monitored waitlist and coordinated dues collection.
2012
STUDIO G-DCAST, San Francisco, CA
Coordinator. Coordinated inaugural weeklong artist residency at The Contemporary Jewish
Museum. Created application, developed publicity campaign, managed submission process, cointerviewed/accepted applicants. Scouted and secured event and lodging sites, chronicled the
residency via vlog/blog posts and tweets, project managed design of website to promote the
second year of the residency using content captured and created during the inaugural year.
2009
THE ADVENTURE SCHOOL, Seattle, WA
Intern. Attended planning meetings with clients and staffed Adventure School events. Reconceptualized and moderated company blog, planned content calendar and posted content to
promote brand awareness.
WE B
WordPress
Google AdWords
CO MP U TE R
Apple and Windows OS
Microsoft Word & Office
Audacity
iMovie
L A NG U AGE
Italian
French