Lexi Prunella, MPH., C.H.E.S., is the Chief Operating Officer and Evaluation and Planning Director at Strategic Prevention Solutions. She holds a master’s degree in Public Health Promotion and Health Behavior from Portland State University and a bachelor’s degree in Health Education from Western Oregon University. Lexi has been credentialed as a Certified Health Education Specialist and a trained Prime for Life substance misuse intervention instructor. 

 

As COO, she is responsible for maintaining and driving operational, managerial and administrative procedures, ensuring SPS has adequate resources and infrastructure to support staff and optimally serve clients. She manages the internal operations through a collaborative and communicative style of leadership that prioritizes staff, their health, professional development, and sense of worth. 

 

Lexi was recruited out of graduate school to begin her career in the nonprofit behavioral healthcare sector in Southeast Alaska as a health promotion program senior manager and grants administrator. Later, as a University-level work as a wellness educator, LGBTQIA+ staff advisor, and adjunct professor, she concentrated on student conduct, substance misuse prevention, and personal safety promotion. She was additionally staffed by the university police department to revamp their policies and procedures to enhance safe and equitable practices. Lexi also worked in the Division of Public Health for the State of Alaska, and channeled her energy on coordinating implementation fidelity and evaluating the Fourth R statewide healthy relationship curriculum pilot cross-site research project, as well as lifting up TANF-funded sexual health promotion and sexual violence prevention programs for foster youth and foster families. Her work across Alaska has allowed her to build many local and national community partnerships. 

 

Since joining SPS in 2014, Lexi has steered evaluation services for multiple states funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violence prevention programs. She has years of experience in leading community needs and readiness assessments, strategic planning, health program planning and evaluation, and social norms marketing. Lexi has served as an evaluation project lead on multiple state and national health promotion and prevention projects, as well as serving as a principal investigator on research and evaluation projects. In her work, she has collaborated with multiple sectors including: tribal entities, federal/state/local government, education, social services, public assistance, behavioral health, social advocacy, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention agencies, healthcare, child welfare, youth-serving organizations, LGBTQIA+ programs, public safety, public policy, resource development, business leaders, and grassroots community efforts. 

 

Lexi has strong background in capacity building and evaluation coaching for non-profits, qualitative data collection and survey design, pattern recognition and thematic analysis, policy scans, Institutional Review Board protocols, youth engagement, and report development and delivery. Her efforts focus on reviewing and synthesizing wide nets of community level data to help communities make connections with local partners to address pressing needs and elevate shared resources.  

 

Outside of work, Lexi enjoys every minute she can with her young nephew to play with dinosaurs and transformers, and taking in the majestic views within the Matanuska Susitna Valley. Lexi was born and raised in Southeast Alaska, on the unceded lands of Língit Aaní, and currently resides in Palmer, Alaska, on the unceded lands of the Ahtna and Dena’ina people.