01/10/2026
Meet Kendy Alvarez, our new Project Manager!
Kendy brings incredible experience in inclusive economic development and a passion for supporting small businesses in every community.
As Mayor of Lewisburg, Kendy brings a unique perspective on local leadership.
We couldn't be more excited to welcome Kendy Alvarez to the Covation Center team!
Read Kendy's full bio below 👇
Kendy Alvarez is a civic and economic development professional with a career focused on strengthening rural communities through entrepreneurship, cross-sector collaboration, and inclusive leadership. Born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in rural Pennsylvania, she brings both lived experience and professional expertise to her work advancing place-based economic strategies that support small businesses and local vitality.
Professionally, Alvarez served as Economic Development Coordinator for Ferguson Township, where she supported development of the Economic Development, Growth and Innovation Strategic Master Plan. She is also the Principal of Chaconia, LLC, a consulting practice that applies systems thinking to help nonprofits and small businesses strengthen operations, align strategy, and scale impact. Her work has included guiding organizational realignment, facilitating multi-stakeholder feasibility efforts, and building sustainable partnerships between communities and institutions of higher education.
Throughout her career, Alvarez has been a consistent advocate for entrepreneurship as a cornerstone of rural economic resilience. She has championed small business development and entrepreneurial ecosystems through collaborations with Brighter Financial Futures, Bucknell University, and Susquehanna University, and has organized and supported programming that connects entrepreneurs to capital, mentorship, and community-based resources. Her approach recognizes that in rural and small-town contexts, entrepreneurship is not supplemental to economic development—it is foundational.
Alvarez’s commitment to community development is reinforced through extensive board and volunteer service. She serves on the boards of Partners for Campus-Community Engagement, DegenSTEAM, First Community Foundation Partnership GSV, Lewisburg Downtown Partnership, and Lewisburg Neighborhoods, and volunteers with organizations including CommUnity Zone, the Union-Snyder Hunger Coalition, Penn State Extension Ag Council, and WellSpan–Evangelical Community Hospital. Through these roles, she advances education, workforce development, food security, health equity, and community cohesion.
A Policy Fellow with the Open Discourse Coalition and a board member of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and Pennsylvania State Mayors Association, Alvarez is also committed to strengthening civic trust and fostering dialogue across difference. She is a 2024–2025 alumna of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, where she deepened her focus on regional prosperity and rural leadership.
Alvarez is a proud Bucknell University alumna and President Emeritus of the Black Alumni Association, where she continues to mentor students and emerging leaders. She currently serves as Mayor of Lewisburg Borough, where she brings her professional background in economic development, entrepreneurship, and coalition building to public service.
