MEET ALISIA

Alisia Bergsman grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania with a family of farmers and small-business entrepreneurs and relocated to Huntersville with her family in 2011. She worked as the Joint Director of the Refugee Claimants Support Centre in Brisbane, Australia and was the Development Director at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services in Baltimore, Maryland. During the pandemic, she worked as a Medical Case Manager at a public health organization serving people living with HIV/AIDS. 

A Lifetime of Civic Engagement

During her free time, Alisia volunteers with the Ada Jenkins Center’s VITA tax assistance program and Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency. In 2017 Alisia and a partner organized Puerto Rico Rises, a fundraiser and cultural event for victims of Hurricane Maria. In 2021, she helped lead the C.A.L.M. Afghan Project, recruiting a network of health professionals to volunteer at a pop-up health clinic for hundreds of Afghan humanitarian refugees that arrived in Charlotte after the fall of Kabul.

Alisia is current Vice-Chair of the Huntersville Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission, a member of the CMS Community Equity Committee, and Vice-President of North Meck High School’s Band Booster Club. She has also served on school leadership teams at Grand Oak Elementary and Piedmont IB Middle School. She enjoys hiking with her husband and daughter, reading, traveling, rescuing and fostering cats with Cats of Davidson, and participating in LGBTQ+ and social justice advocacy efforts.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Alisia and her family chose to settle in Huntersville because she was drawn to the small-town feel, excellent schools, and beautiful parks and playgrounds while remaining close to an international airport and a short distance from Charlotte. The combination of city-like amenities and preservation of rural areas reminds her of her hometown where she grew up. She values the characteristics that make Huntersville unique and believes the decisions Huntersville makes now to manage population growth will impact the community for generations.

Why I’m Running for Commissioner

Alisia is motivated by five priorities: Sustainable Growth, Housing Affordability, Environmental Stewardship, Equity for All, and Transparency & Accountability. Why do these matter to Alisia?

Sustainable Growth: Without responsible land use decisions, Huntersville risks losing the charm that attracts people to live in and visit our community. The 2040 Plan is a valuable guide that needs to be an important consideration in zoning decisions.

Housing Affordability: As a founding member of the University of Pittsburgh’s Habitat for Humanity College Chapter, Alisia knows the importance of developing affordable workforce housing so that our first responders and essential workers can find a place to call home in the community they serve, and help our elders age in place. 

Environmental Stewardship: As someone who spends as much time as she can in nature and the outdoors, Alisia values the responsible use and protection of our local environment through conservation and sustainable practices such as protecting pollinators, preserving tree canopies, and planting native tree species. She also prioritizes addressing environmental injustices, such as the exposure of Pottstown residents to the toxic fumes and harmful chemicals used at the adjacent Griffin Brothers landfill.

Equity for All: Alisia and her daughter are part of the LGBTQ+ community and Alisia’s family is Jewish. Through lived experience and her advocacy work on civil and human rights, she intimately understands the importance of using an equity lens to support an inclusive community that values the voices of its residents and is welcoming to people of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

Transparency and Accountability: During her time on the Town Parks and Rec Advisory Commission, Alisia has advocated for increasing public engagement. She is committed to supporting citizen-led advisory boards and improving outreach efforts to engage citizens in the budget process.

Check out the Issues page to find out more about each priority and proposed solutions.