C-level executive in product & strategy.
I was previously chief product and strategy officer at Howl, an adtech SaaS startup that raised a $27M Series A.
I was chief strategy officer at Civic News Company, where I raised $12M to found Votebeat and Healthbeat, nonprofit news organizations focused on voter integrity and public health, respectively.
I was the first employee at a mobile publishing startup that exited via acquisition, and I led product teams at Facebook, Amazon, and Rent the Runway. I thrive in early-stage environments where fiery intensity and asking relentlessly deep questions is a feature, not a bug.
I currently teach a master's level course at Columbia University titled "Leadership in Times of Disruption."
I received my MBA from the Wharton School and BA in History from the University of Michigan.
“Alison is a true visionary with an uncanny ability to see the future and make it real.”
I work in industries where product complexity demands unusual passion.
Climate
Renewables, electrification, transit.
Health & Wellness
Consumer fitness and health platforms.
Media / E-Comm
Creator economy, subscription, marketplaces.
My theory of everything.
I started my career toward the beginning of the internet era, and my first job was on the losing end of a massive multi-industry disruption that would last decades. I was a journalist at a national news magazine (remember those?), and within months of joining full time, I witnessed multiple rounds of layoffs of colleagues who had proved their loyalty through long hours and hard work.
What I learned was that working hard only got you so far. To thrive, you also needed to pay close attention to the world around you, stay three steps ahead, and carefully position yourself to ride the next huge tidal waves (and not get crushed by them).
Some will read this as career advice, but really, this is also sound business strategy, and it's the approach that I bring to every organization I work with. I love a good playbook to get things done, but playbooks are inherently backwards-looking.
I shine brightest when the playbooks stop working.
Interested in more of my personal(ish) writing?