Nelly D’Alessandro - Director of Operations

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 16+ years and adore this city. I come from both a city (upstate NY) and a semi-rural town (Maryland) with a few years in Portugal working with Young Life International. I grew up in church and really loved it (not typical, I know), but it was in a funky house church in Portugal where I had an experience of the love of God and power of the Spirit that changed me. The safety of that community was massive—it’s not unlike what I’ve experienced at bread and what draws me in.

My work at bread is to help create processes and support to help the church grow from the inside out. I work alongside Ed and Hannah to serve the wider vision of sustainability and health for the church and staff team. Beyond bread, I’m a writer, producer, and Ph.d student in Bible at Fuller Seminary.

Likes:

good coffee too late at night / thinking about how memory works / tart apples / em dashes / Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) / throwing parties / playful yet intense arguments / the strand between Manhattan + Hermosa / a long meal with a friend / films in small cinemas / the contrast of dark green-blue hills against a pink LA sunset / southern Italy / handwritten notes / Rainer Maria Rilke / medium format photog / layers of poetry in the bible / pickleball / feeling seen by a good burn / stubborn hope / overusing the word “beautiful” / paradox / Marco Polo (the app) / a zinger bridge / fizzy water / friendly competition / long slow runs / a well-stocked cheese drawer / directness / xylophones / dreams within dreams at night / an unexpected line break in a poem / pushing the envelope / curiosity

Dislikes:

period pieces / passive aggression / having more books to enjoy than actual time / unexamined cruelty / papyrus font / low standards for pizza in Los Angeles / dismissiveness / the absence of passion / hustle culture / my name being mis-spelled / poor listeners / impractical rules / the scam that is skincare products / clichés / religiosity / inflexibility / lacking nuance / the inner city tendency to isolate / boredom