Age: 26

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Primary Gig: Board Certified Music Therapist

On the Side: Miss Heart of the Midwest in Miss America Organization, Sorority Advisor, Podcaster

How long have you lived in Indianapolis? 3 years

Describe yourself in 100 words or less: Elyssa is an enthusiastic and passionate Board-Certified Music Therapist, who supports people with disabilities to meet their life goals. Since moving to Indiana, Elyssa has gotten involved in several Jewish organizations, sits on the NextGen committee, and is co-founding a new organization. She also is currently Miss Heart of the Midwest in the Miss America Organization. She competed for Miss Indiana, where she received the Newcomer and Non-finalist Talent Awards. Her platform is Inclusivity for All Abilities, where she advocates for neurodivergence/disability inclusion. In her personal life, she enjoys going to farmer's markets, shopping, and anything with her dog, Ginger.

How do you give back? Within the Jewish community, Elyssa is part of the NextGen committee with the Federation and is currently a co-founder for Indy LGBTQew (LGBT Jew) to bring the Jewish community together and build community through both organizations. She also used to help host nightly Zoom Calls for Jewish Singles across the world in the midst of the pandemic through MeetJew Post-Grad. Outside the Jewish community, she volunteers for several organizations throughout the state from Miss Amazing, Honor Flight, Special Olympics, and local events throughout the area. She also uses her platform as Miss Heart of the Midwest to promote and advocate with her Social Impact Initiative, Inclusivity for All Abilities, which works to create inclusion and elevate the voices of those who with different disabilities, which includes using her podcast as a way to listen to the voices of those with disabilities. Elyssa’s career is also based on service. As a music therapist she is supporting people to meet their life goals through clinical and evidence-based practice, creating relationships and working on their goals with them to meet what they would like to do. Elyssa is currently the most recent graduate to become an advisor for her college's sorority, advising the Vice President of Operations, and in college, not only was she engaged in several organizations working to improve her college community, but she raised over $2,500 her senior year alone as a part of her school's dance marathon, being the 2nd highest fundraiser in the history of the organization in 2019.

How do you envision the Indianapolis Jewish community in the next 10 years? When I look at the Jewish community of Indianapolis in 10 years, I want to see how the next generation can make change and community. As we accept people into our community and create a safe environment, they will want to serve the community more and will bring new and innovative ideas to the community, helping us all grow as a community.

What is one thing you look forward to as we come out of this Pandemic? Not having anxiety about the pandemic is a leading factor in our conversations. We have all leaned on each other about our safety, health, and how to have community safely- and we all needed that. Especially in my profession, I make sure to continually do mental health checks on the people I support and to help them process COVID-19 in whatever way they needed. As we leave this pandemic, although it should not be something that is “forgotten”, I am excited for the day when we are not having to come to events with the anxiety of if someone was in contact, or has covid, or how to handle the conversation of safety in a group setting. We all have gone through this trauma together and we have been able to use it as a connector and community builder, something we know people can talk about, but this also has been our community builder for years and I am ready for the “how's the weather” to become our go-to conversation starter again.

What is your proudest accomplishment in the past 10 years? All my life I have worked to hit the goal of becoming board certified and being able to specialize in a population I love. The biggest day for me was the day I was certified and could add the letters MT-BC to the end of my signature. All the work I had done my entire life, YEARS of vocal lessons, practicums, service hours, leadership positions, exams, papers, session plans, my 6-month internship, and hours on my research project. We can go back to my high school education and college application process. I have done EVERYTHING in my life with this one goal in mind, and everything I did connects back to becoming the best Music Therapist I could be. The day I was certified, I knew everything I did paid off.

Any advice for younger professionals? Take the risks and take the opportunities. The older I have gotten the more I have been willing to go off the path I saw, do something that was just for me- put myself first. I was willing to just take a chance one day and see what happens. Several of those experiences have made me the woman I am today. Joining a public zoom call knowing only one other person, competing in a pageant, or filling out an application for a reality TV show knowing very well you will not get a callback (yes, I have created the hobby of filling out TV show applications). Create opportunities for yourself both in your professional and personal life and if life gives you the opportunity with no “consequence”, take it- and don’t let yourself convince yourself it is not for you. Put yourself first. You become a professional and everything you worked for is now in front of you. Remember to put yourself first. You can have a life after 5 p.m. on a random Wednesday. You can do something just because it is fun.