Mahal Alvarez-Backus joined MPHA in 2022 as Policy Specialist. Previously, she worked as a Massachusetts Senate intern with the Asian American Women’s Political Initiative and as a research assistant at the Colby Mood and Emotion Lab in Waterville, Maine. Mahal is a graduate of Colby College and is also a certified Community Health Worker. In her spare time, she likes to read, run, play with her dogs, and spend time with her family. If Mahal could have any superpower, it would be the ability to speak to animals.