Alison Levine

Alison Levine (born April 5, 1966) is an American mountain climber, sportswoman, explorer, and entrepreneur. She has ascended the highest peaks on every continent and also skied to both the North and South Poles. In 2010 at age 44, she completed the Last Degree Adventure Grand Slam by reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, having fallen only 200 feet short in her previous attempt in 2002 as part of the 1st American Women’s Everest Expedition. She is one of few people in the world to have completed the Grand Slam. She currently serves as an adjunct instructor at the U.S. Military Academy. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from University of Arizona and an MBA from Duke University.

Early years
Levine was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle child of Jack and Corinne Levine. Her father served in the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover and was one of the first special agents to publicly speak out against Hoover and the Bureau, which eventually cost him his career. Jack and Corinne moved from New York to Arizona in the early 1960s as a result of the fallout.

Levine’s favorite hobby while growing up was riding horses which she often did several times a week at a local stable down the street from her house. She was also active in student government and in community theater. During her senior year at Central High School, Levine was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome; a life-threatening congenital heart defect that worsened as she got older. After high school she attended the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, earning a BA from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (attending from 1984-1987 with an early graduation).

Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW)
Throughout her childhood and early adult years, Levine suffered from Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW), a heart condition in which there is an extra electrical pathway (circuit) in the heart’s AV node connecting the upper atria chambers to the lower ventricle chambers. This extra pathway delivers the electrical signal too quickly to the ventricles. The condition is categorized as an electrical abnormality called pre-excitation syndrome and symptoms include rapid heart, dizziness, chest palpitations, fainting and sometimes cardiac arrest. The incidence of WPW is between .9 and 3% of the general population, and while many people with WPW remain asymptomatic throughout their lives, there is a risk of irreversible brain damage and sudden death associated with the syndrome.

Although Levine was born with WPW, a proper diagnosis wasn’t made until 1984 (age 17) when she suddenly collapsed, fell unconscious and was rushed to a local hospital. Doctors were unable to surgically correct the problem at the time, so she was put on a variety of medications which were unsuccessful at controlling her symptoms. Over the next several years Levine had to be rushed to the emergency room more than a dozen times in order to have her heart converted back to normal sinus rhythm. In 1996, Levine underwent an ablation procedure to correct her condition. The procedure was performed by Dr. Melvin Scheinman at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Scheinman is best known as the first person to have performed catheter ablation in humans.

Raynaud's Disease
Levine has suffered from Raynaud's Disease since her early 20s. The disease is a disorder of the blood vessels, usually in the fingers and toes, causing the blood vessels to narrow which inhibits blood flow to the surface of the skin. The disease is compounded by cold weather and stress. The most severe cases can cause skin atrophy, ulceration and gangrene. The cause of Raynaurd’s is not known. During her climbs Levine must take extra precaution to not exacerbate her condition and often uses hand and toe warmers to protect her extremities.

Professional career
Levine worked a series of restaurant jobs throughout high school and college. During her junior year at the University of Arizona she managed to parlay a job at Keaton’s Restaurant into a marketing internship at Mattel Toys when a group of Mattel executives came into the restaurant for dinner. Her transition from restaurant hostess to marketing intern was chronicled in the career guidance book Smart Moves by Sheila J. Curran and Suzanne Greenwald (Ten Speed Press). To help finance her college education, Levine started a custom sportswear company and sold logoed items to various groups and associations on multiple college campuses. After college, Levine spent most of her career in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry working for health-care giant Allergan (AGN) and later for a start-up semi conductor-based laser company called Iridex (IRIX). In 2000 she earned her MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and after graduation landed a job on Wall Street as an associate with Goldman Sachs. Passionate about politics, she left Goldman after 3 years and took a job as deputy finance director for Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bid to become governor of California during the recall election in 2003. In January of 2014, Alison will publish On The Edge, a leadership manual from Business Plus.

Adventure Grand Slam
After 12 years of mountaineering and polar expeditions, Levine completed the Last Degree Adventure Grand Slam by climbing the highest peak on each continent and skiing to both the North and South Poles. Her trips have been funded by a variety of different sponsors including the Ford Motor Company and the women’s network 85 Broads. Levine climbed her first mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro, in 1998 at age 32. She used her vacations during graduate school to hone her skills on various mountains and eventually began climbing more challenging and technical peaks. In August 2001 she was asked to serve as the team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition which was slated to go to the mountain in the spring of 2002. Because she was heavily in debt from graduate school loans she needed to find outside sources to finance the trip and eventually secured funding from the Ford Motor Company. After spending nearly 2 months on the mountain, her team was turned back just a few hundred feet shy of Everest’s summit due to deteriorating weather. When Levine reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 24, 2010, she completed her Grand Slam bid and became part of the historical record.

Summits and expeditions

 * 1) Kilimanjaro (1998)
 * 2) Elbrus (1998)
 * 3) Aconcagua (two summits—1999 and 2004)
 * 4) Carstensz Pyramid (1999)
 * 5) Denali (2000)
 * 6) Vinson Massif (2001)
 * 7) Everest (2002; went as high as 28,750’ with the 1st American Women’s Everest Expedition)
 * 8) North Pole (2004)
 * 9) South Pole (2008; 1st American to traverse to the S Pole via the 600-mile Messner Route)
 * 10) Everest (2010; in honor of friend Meg Berté Owen)

Leadership in extreme environments
Having survived some of the most challenging environmental conditions known to man, Levine is a sought-after consultant and lecturer. By drawing parallels between staying alive in the mountains and thriving in a fast-paced business world, Levine’s company, Daredevil Strategies, addresses leadership development, team dynamics, overcoming odds, tackling fear, taking responsible risks and dealing with changing environments. Some of her clients include General Electric, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, IBM, and Motorola.

Levine was a featured speaker at Duke University's 9th Annual Coach K Leadership Conference alongside Joseph Bailey III (Managing Partner, Global Sport Leadership Advisory Group, Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., and Former CEO of the Miami Dolphins and Dolphins Stadium), Don Browne (President, Telemundo Communications Group) Jerry Colangelo (Chairman of Phoenix Suns and of USA Basketball), Mike Krzyzewski (Coach, U.S. National Men’s Basketball Team and Head Coach, Duke Men’s Basketball); Sherilyn S. McCoy, (Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals Group, Johnson & Johnson), amongst others.

In September 2010, CNBC aired "Meeting of the Minds: The Future of Leadership," which featured Levine alongside other notable leaders such as General Wesley K. Clark, U.S. Army (Ret.), Former NATO Supreme Commander and Co-Chairman, Growth Energy; Henry Paulson, Former Treasury Secretary and Former CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs; and Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, Captain, US Airways. The panel discussed the challenges ahead: How the U.S. can produce strategic, thoughtful, and brilliant leaders who will guide us in the 21st century while facing issues of great magnitude including financial regulation, health care reform, rising unemployment, and changes to our tax and energy policies. Other panelists included Robert Kraft, CEO and Chairman of the New England Patriots; Anne Mulcahy, Former Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation; and Jim Owens, Chairman, Caterpillar Inc.

In January 2011, Levine will be speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

West Point and Thayer Leadership Development Group
In 2009 Levine joined the adjunct faculty at the United States Military Academy at West Point where she teaches in the Dept. of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership. Her lectures focus on leading teams in extreme environments. In August 2010, Levine also joined the Board of Advisors of the Thayer Leader Development Group (LDG).

Held at the prestigious Thayer Hotel at the entrance of the USMA at West Point, the Thayer LDG offers hands-on teaching from seasoned leadership practitioners who have successfully led organizations ranging in size from several dozen to several hundred people. This combination of cutting-edge scholarship with extensive live application is the Thayer LDG’s unique positioning in the executive education space. Current management-thought-leaders are emphasizing the positive benefits of a robust connection between simultaneous government and civilian leadership initiatives on a global scale. The Thayer LDG is positioned to be the center of this significant movement toward a world that needs public and private leaders of vision, integrity, and unimpeachable character.

Climb High Foundation
After a climbing trip to the Rwenzori Mountains in 2005, Levine founded a nonprofit organization, the Climb High Foundation, which trains jobless women in western Uganda to work as trekking guides and porters in their local mountains. The Rwenzori Mountains are located on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, an area that has been plagued by war and violence for decades resulting in extreme poverty in the surrounding communities. Women in these areas are subordinate in social status and historically have had few job opportunities. Levine’s organization teaches local women the skills that enable them to benefit from trekking and climbing-related tourism. By providing the clothing, equipment and training they need to work in the trekking industry, the organization enables Ugandan women to earn a sustainable living wage and paves the way for these women to improve their standard of living.