ALEXANDRIA, VA, October 06, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Carrie Ann Alford has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Ms. Alford has built a distinguished career defined by public service, advocacy and a commitment to inclusive policies. Her mantra is "be a story worth telling" and her philosophy of life is simple: leave the world a better place than you found it.

Ms. Alford initially considering a career in sports medicine, inspired by her time as a competitive figure skater and long hours in her high school athletic training room, but her trajectory shifted when she became involved with her college newspaper, serving as a writer, sports editor and then editor-in-chief. This experience led to an internship her senior year in the United States Senate in 1996 in the office of Senator Chris Dodd, igniting her passion for politics and public service. Thanks to the connections made during this internship, when she returned to Chicago for her final semester of college, she was appointed to the advance team of Vice President Al Gore for his trip to Chicago in February 1997.

In December 2024, Ms. Alford was hired to be the U.S. Project Manager at International Mental Health Consulting, Inc. and oversee the Ukraine Institute of Traumatherapy (UIT) capital campaign. UIT will be an eight building medical and mental health complex for Ukrainian military, veterans and civilians 30 kilometers south of Kyiv, Ukraine. She also provides fundraising, communications and strategic support to other IMHC programs for cutting edge mental health therapies to heal war related trauma. She was recruited for this position due to her demonstrated expertise in military and veterans policy, communications, fundraising, legislative strategy and coalition-building.

Ms. Alford began her professional journey with a short stint on Capitol Hill as a staffer to Rep. Charlie Stenholm. She left Capitol Hill to work for an international nonprofit organization focused on working with teenagers, and then served as a youth minister for the Episcopal Church in Virginia, Maryland and Illinois. She returned to the Hill in March 2001 as a reporter, and after 9/11 became CD Publication's first Editor of the Homeland Security Report covering terrorism and the newly created Department of Homeland Security. In 2004, she returned to politics and served on campaigns in Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, Virginia and Ohio. She left the campaign trail to pursue graduate school and after graduating, Ms. Alford was hired as the legislative assistant to State Senator Linda "Toddy" Puller. This time was pivotal to her career, as in this capacity, she managed a broad legislative portfolio encompassing elections law, health care, alcohol beverage control and veterans' issues. She represented Senator Puller at meetings, engaged with media outlets, and collaborated with advocates and lobbyists to advance meaningful legislation.

In 2015, Ms. Alford became the Director of Policy and Planning for the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS), where she served until 2020. As a policy and legislative liaison for the VDVS Commissioner, she coordinated legislative strategies with the Governor's staff, Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs and the Adjutant General to position Virginia as the best state in the nation for veterans. She also played a key role in amending the Virginia Constitution twice between 2016 and 2020 to benefit disabled veterans. One of her proudest accomplishments was being part of the team that secured funding for two new Veteran Care Centers. Notably, one facility was named after her former mentor and boss, Senator Puller, her husband Lewis Puller, Jr. and father-in-law General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller.

During this time, Ms. Alford was also a consultant with CreativeChaos VMG, and in 2018, co-founded Torii Coaching & Consulting with her friend William Travis Rodriguez, whom she met through CreativeChaos VMG's documentary film Thank You For Your Service, all while continuing her work at DVS. She is a published author, with titles Click (2006), and contributing writer (Foreword) for Invisible Veterans: When Military Women Become Civilians Again (2019), and many articles as a contributing writer to Thrive Global from 2019-2020.

Ms. Alford's academic credentials include a Master's of Professional Studies in Legislative Affairs, with an emphasis on national security and intelligence policy, from The George Washington University (2012), a Certificate in Advanced International Affairs—National Security Policy from Texas A&M University's Bush School of Government (2011), and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Old Testament Literature and Jewish Studies, from Moody Bible Institute (1997).

Ms. Alford's civic engagement runs deep in Alexandria. She served as a Fairfax County elections for over a decade, a position she relinquished in 2025 to return to the campaign trail as a Community Ambassador and Voter Protection volunteer for Abigail Spanberger for Governor. On Sundays she can be found in the choir loft at her beloved Christ Church Alexandria. She also is an active member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in the Virginia society and John Alexander chapter. As a DAR member, she has participated in Wreaths Across America, patriotic volunteer work at Alexandria National Cemetery, and community events around Alexandria and Virginia. She has put her fundraising skills to good use and helped her DAR chapter raise well over $10,000 for local causes including the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria and Christ Church Foundation. She is also a volunteer with the National Brittany Rescue and Adoption Network, which helped her rescue Goose, her French Brittany in 2022.

In her personal life, Ms. Alford enjoys painting, drawing, visiting art museums, attending wine tastings, and ice skating – although big jumps and combination spins are only done in her imagination these days. Ms. Alford attributes much of her success to a family tradition of community service, global engagement and hard work. She's inspired by her visionary bosses, Dr. Olya Zaporozhets and Dr. Oksana Syvak, as well as her Ukrainian colleagues working with clients and advancing trauma therapy research in Kyiv while enduring daily air raid alerts and bombings. She is committed to seeing the grand opening of the Ukraine Institute of Traumatherapy complex become a reality. Ultimately, she aims to expand IMHC's donor base, brand recognition, national media presence and staff so that everyone in the U.S. knows IMHC as the global leader in war-related trauma therapy research.

About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who's Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.

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