Alison cut her teeth on California’s Sesquicentennial Tall Ship Celebration. When the event was unexpectedly cancelled, she stepped forward to ensure it happened as planned. On July 4, 1999, she successfully welcomed eight international Class A tall ships to San Francisco. Building on her achievement, she went on to plan and orchestrate Sail San Francisco in 2002 and 2005, later scaling back to host individual ships as they visited the port.

Alison’s first tall-ship experience was aboard HMS Rose, where she conquered her fear of heights by climbing to the top of the main mast—during a hurricane. That moment of feeling at one with nature reshaped her priorities and ignited her passion for traditional rig sailing. While these experiences were transformative, it was the act of hosting international ships that revealed her true calling: fostering friendships among nations through the shared culture of the sea. Today, she continues this work with the conviction that such connections are vital to the fabric of our shared humanity.

Alison is Commodore for International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians and is a Rotarian. She was a founding Board Member for University of San Francisco’s Tall Ship Semester for Girls and has been on the board of American Sail Training Association, Golden Gate Tall Ships Society and Sail San Francisco - in addition to serving other civic organizations.

A serial entrepreneur, Alison has founded and operated multiple non-profits focusing on international humanitarian work and climate change solutions.

Alison has completed graduate studies at Stanford Graduate School of Business in Business Strategies for the Environment and University of Southern California Annenberg School of Public Relations for Public Diplomacy. In addition to her son, she has been a Big Sister and Foster Mom to three teens. She and Luis live with their two kitties and are forever grateful they are only a few blocks from their sailboat.