Alexis Barnes is a Co-Founder and Advisor for Circles International. She brings ten years of experience working in training and management roles for global health and social justice organizations all over the globe. She has held positions working in youth empowerment in Ethiopia, global tobacco control in Washington DC, expanding a Ministry of Education initiative in Chile through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and served a 2012-2013 Global Health Corps Fellow in Uganda, working with grassroots community health initiatives in the areas in maternal health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, nutrition and youth empowerment. Additionally, she has consulted for organizations in East Africa, Australia, the United States and Haiti. 

Like Eliza, Alexis also witnessed high levels of burnout in global organizations, particularly for those living and working in communities outside of their own. This experience led her to begin working with volunteers and staff before they embarked on cross-cultural experiences. In her last position as Director of Learning and Training for GlobeMed, she created an annual global health and social justice curriculum for a network of 2,000 undergraduate students. She also created a network-wide leadership development strategy to help those engaged in service work discern and practice leadership development of themselves, their teams and their community. Additionally, she co-authored a chapter of a global health textbook relating to ethical leadership for undergraduate students working in global health.

With a strong background in curriculum development and education, Alexis aims to create experiential opportunities for leaders to align their authentic selves with the work they hope to accomplish. Alexis holds a BA in International Studies from University of Oregon and a Masters in International Public Health from University of Sydney, Australia. She is originally from Portland, Oregon and currently resides in Chicago, Illinois.