Artistic Expression and Health Care Background
Alisha has always been drawn to helping others, and since starting her role at Myers and Stauffer, she’s able to help in a way that she wasn’t able to before in her other health care roles. She’s able to address obstacles on a much larger scale than she ever thought was possible and focus her efforts to make an impact for those in need.
“When joining Myers and Stauffer, I felt I had an opportunity to address some of those systemic issues I had felt in my practice. In my role here, I feel like I do have a voice.”
Prior to her experience at Myers and Stauffer, Alisha’s background in the health care field started with her role as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in a variety of settings; hospitals, short-term rehab, and skilled nursing facilities and schools with both adults and children of all ages.
“Most recently before coming to Myers and Stauffer, I worked for Northwest Regional Education Service District as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication Specialist. In that role, I partnered with school districts throughout our four-county region to consult with and evaluate students who may have needed alternative methods to communicate or assistive technology for appropriate access to their education.”
Alisha was initially inspired to become an SLP in health care after her grandmother had a stroke and lost her ability to speak. The importance of communication was very clear to her after that, and she really enjoyed working with students to ensure they had a way to communicate so they could have agency over the decisions that were made on their behalf. In her experience as an SLP, Alisha found that photography and other visuals became an alternative modality of communication and that many of her students and patients really benefited from that.
After her move to Oregon, Alisha found a new interest in hiking, and the more she explored, the more she found herself capturing everything around her behind the lens. Inspired by vast wilderness in her surroundings, she pulls creativity for her photos from the ocean, the starry night sky, early-morning sunrises, waterfalls, and nature scenes.
“I mostly like nature photography, predominantly grand scenes, but I do enjoy making macro or abstract images as well. For example, during the lockdown when I wasn’t traveling, I shifted my focus to macro shots, meaning super close-up photos, such as the center of a dahlia, which looks like a mandala. Other times, I would focus on natural patterns, such as those in the dunes of the Death Valley- the dunes themselves create patterns and there are patterns within them. When you look at things this way, you can get some really beautiful pictures of patterns of nature. Another example is when my friends and I would go to Death Valley after a rain, a rare event, and then wait for the rain puddles to dry up and form into the geometric mud cracks. We would all shoot for hours until we finally got the one we loved. Sometimes, if a sunrise doesn’t turn out the way you hoped, you might look down and see the fog and river and trees… there’s usually something beautiful in the way nature has shaped it.”
Inspired by her desire to help others and her scenic and eye-catching camerawork, we thought it was more than fitting to showcase Alisha’s photography front and center on our updated homepage. From scenic trails to starry night skies, Alisha’s photos encapsulate the vision we have to provide limitless possibilities and vast experience to our government clients. Myers and Stauffer is proud to help our clients serve those who are most vulnerable, and we take great appreciation for our dedicated staff who make a difference every day with their work.
Be sure to check out our updated website home page with Alisha’s photos and see below for a gallery with more of her extraordinary work.
