Alyssa I. Agard

Alyssa I. Agard is the founder of Agard Research Associates, where she serves as Chairman and President of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. In this role, she provides executive leadership across all organizational functions, including strategic planning, research development, governance, and external partnerships. She sets the organization's research agenda and oversees its translation into accessible, actionable scholarship for professionals, policymakers, and the public. Her leadership has shaped the organization's mission of advancing interdisciplinary research that bridges behavioral science, historical analysis, and policy frameworks. Under her direction, Agard Research Associates has established itself as a resource for evidence-based institutional reform and informed public discourse.

As Chief Executive Officer, Alyssa has overseen the establishment of comprehensive organizational infrastructure, including securing 501(c)(3) nonprofit status with public charity designation, building financial systems, and ensuring ongoing state and federal compliance. She directs interdisciplinary research initiatives and professional development programming that translates complex scholarship into actionable insights for diverse audiences. Her executive oversight extends to developing external partnerships, managing organizational growth, and cultivating a team of volunteers and interns committed to the organization's mission. She ensures that all operations align with the organization's commitment to ethical practice, transparency, and meaningful public impact. Through strategic governance and operational oversight, Alyssa has positioned Agard Research Associates for sustainable growth and expanded reach.

Alyssa's research integrates behavioral science, historical analysis, and policy frameworks to examine institutional behavior and systemic reform. She applies advanced analytical tools, including ArcGIS, R, SPSS, SQL, Python, and C++, to produce data-driven research outputs that inform both scholarship and practice. Her methodological approach emphasizes interdisciplinary inquiry, drawing on sociology, psychology, and political science to address complex institutional challenges. She is committed to accessibility and equity in research dissemination, ensuring that rigorous scholarship reaches diverse audiences across educational, professional, and civic settings. Her work reflects the organization's core principle that high-quality research should be available to all, regardless of background or expertise.

Her scholarly interests center on defense strategy, national security, and American contemporary history. She focuses particularly on wartime production efficiency, the intersection of global economics and cyber warfare, and the mechanisms that shape public support for defense initiatives. Her historical research draws on American twentieth-century conflicts, including the World Wars and the Cold War, examining how foreign policy decisions, military strategy, and domestic mobilization efforts shaped national and international outcomes. These interests inform her long-term goal of contributing to national security policy through both scholarship and applied research. Alyssa has also facilitated professional development workshops for small businesses and private schools in New Jersey, addressing cultural competence, social-emotional learning, and regulatory compliance in areas such as FERPA, HIPAA, OSHA, and EEOC. Through these engagements, she supports institutional improvement by connecting research insights to practical organizational challenges.

Alyssa holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Georgian Court University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy at Rutgers University with a concentration in Foreign Affairs and Defense Policy. Her undergraduate studies focused on American contemporary history, with research spanning the California Gold Rush, Gilded Age entrepreneurship, and U.S. military conflicts during the World Wars and Cold War era. Her long-term academic goal is to pursue a joint PhD and JD, with doctoral studies in Political Science specializing in war and strategic studies and a Juris Doctor concentrating in tax law. This interdisciplinary legal and scholarly training will deepen her expertise in nonprofit governance, defense policy, and the regulatory frameworks that shape institutional operations. Through her leadership of Agard Research Associates and ongoing graduate study, Alyssa bridges scholarship and practice in the service of ethical, inclusive, and evidence-based institutional reform.

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Professional/Academic Affiliations:

• AHA (American Historical Society)

• MCHA (Monmouth County Historical Association)

• NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

• NJAPM (New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators)

• Phi Alpha Theta (American National Historical Honor Society)​