Alison Désir is the founder of Harlem Run a 240-mile run from Harlem to Washington, D.C., to raise money for Planned Parenthood and continues to use running to enact social change. Désir is also the founder of Run 4 All Women, and podcast host of Finding Meaning (on the RUN).

Passionate about community, mental health and fitness, Désir's nickname, “powdered feet,” comes from the Haitian Kreyol saying, which describes a person so active that you never see them, just the footprints of where they’ve been in powder. When Désir is not running, she speaks passionately and works to resolve issues related to women and girls.

Named by Women's Running as one of twenty women who are changing the sport of running and the world, Désir is also featured in Under Armor’s global campaign, Unlike Any, which celebrates and honors the unprecedented achievements of female athletes that rise above gender comparisons and stand on their own as marvels of athletic prowess.

Désir holds her BA in History, MA in Latin American and Caribbean Regional Studies, and MA in Counseling Psychology, all from Columbia University.

Athletics, Athlete, Activists, Women's Rights, Women, Female Leadership, Black Heritage, Black History Month, African-American Women,