Alison Levine

Alison Levine is no stranger to risk-taking. She has survived sub-zero temperatures, hurricane-force winds, sudden avalanches, and a career on Wall Street.

Surprisingly, Alison was born with a life-threatening heart condition that precluded most demanding physical activities. As a teenager, her health was so unstable that she was not even allowed to do such basic things as drive a car or walk up stairs. But 13 years after her initial diagnosis, she had surgery that changed her life—and climbing stairs soon gave way to climbing mountains, a passion that Alison continued to pursue despite her initial health setbacks. In between starting business school and starting a job on Wall Street, Alison "accidentally" scaled the highest peaks on six continents. Over the next several years as she continued to climb the corporate ladder, Alison also pushed her limits on the world's highest peaks and soon became one of the most experienced female mountaineers in the United States.

In 2002, Alison was invited to serve as the team captain of the first American Women's Everest Expedition. Two years later she traveled across the Arctic Circle on skis for more than 100 miles to successfully reach the top of the world—the geographic North Pole. Her success in extreme environments is noteworthy given Alison suffers from a neurological disease which causes the arteries that feed her fingers and toes to collapse in cold weather, leaving her at extreme risk for frostbite.

Ms. Levine's 20-year business career encompasses healthcare, technology and finance. After earning her MBA from Duke University she moved to New York to work for Goldman Sachs. In 2003 she left Wall Street to serve as Deputy Finance Director for Arnold Schwarzenegger in his successful bid to become Governor of
California.

She is the founder and President of Daredevil Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in organizational effectiveness, leadership development and team dynamics. She is also the founder of the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of jobless women in third-world countries by training them to be trekking guides in the their local mountains.