Dr. Alysa Handelsman is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Wofford College and a community-engaged scholar whose work centers on youth, families, and sustainable communities. For more than two decades, she has conducted ethnographic research in Ecuador, publishing on girlhood, motherhood, poverty, and decolonial research design.

Since 2018, Dr. Handelsman has taught a yearlong community sustainability seminar that partners Wofford students with local organizations to design and implement programming across Spartanburg. Each year, her students collaborate with community partners to lead more than 25 initiatives with children, youth, and older adults in the Northside, Southside, Highland, Una-Saxon-Arcadia, and Drayton communities. Her work focuses on strengthening neighborhoods through relationship-driven, community-based engagement.

Dr. Handelsman is deeply involved in civic leadership across Spartanburg. She is a graduate of the City of Spartanburg Citizen Academy (2021), the Spartanburg County Foundation’s Grassroots Leadership Development Institute (2022), and Furman University’s Riley Institute Diversity Leaders Initiative (2025). She serves on multiple community committees and boards, including Spartanburg Housing’s Marche Gault Scholarship Steering Committee, Spartanburg County Foundation’s Grants Review Committee, City of Spartanburg's Unity Week Committee, Live Healthy Spartanburg’s Community Engagement Committee, and the Grassroots Leadership Development Institute Alumni Advisory Board. She also serves as a board member of Oak and Ave Impact and as Board Chair of Strategic Spartanburg.

Her community-based research in Spartanburg has included projects examining condemned properties and neighborhood wellness in Una-Saxon-Arcadia, resident perspectives on development in Drayton, employment experiences across subsidized housing communities, and youth experiences and neighborhood futures across District 7 schools.

Dr. Handelsman is a 2019 Paul Harris Fellow (North Spartanburg Rotary Club), recipient of the 2023 Sullivan Foundation Faculty Regional Service Award, and was recognized as a 2025 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of South Carolina Mountains to Midlands. She was featured at the 2023 Mary L. Thomas Leadership Luncheon and nominated for the 2024 Liz Patterson Civil Service Award.

Dr. Handelsman is committed to collaborative, community-driven partnerships that strengthen Spartanburg and create sustainable opportunities for its residents.