Having grown up on a farm without cell phone or internet access, Alison has risen to become a leading technology and social impact executive with her global educational background shaping her strategic approach. Alison began her academic journey with an international business degree and expanded her worldview as a Korea-America student delegate in South Korea. She earned her first master’s degree in brand management from Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, where she advised at a tech startup specializing in coding education for children. She continued her studies with a second master’s in Cybersecurity Engineering Policy and Compliance from George Washington University, researching the impact of technology policies on women and young girls online. Driven by her own experiences in the industry and coding bootcamps, Alison founded Women In Tech PGH in 2017 to address critical gaps in networking, training, and career advancement for women. As a result of her work in the social impact space, she became the Chief Strategist at Product Garden Consulting, which she founded in 2024 to guide social impact and community-centered organizations in strategically creating meaningful products and services.
For over eight years, Alison has researched, designed, and prototyped professional and workforce development solutions in the technology sector. She is committed to transforming professional development into a more sophisticated, data-driven, and human-centered practice. She advocates for purposeful action to challenge and redefine the “move fast, break things” tech narrative. By prioritizing equity in research, development, and decision-making, Alison aims to forge sustainable pathways for individuals and companies within the technology landscape. She has been recognized with awards including Uber ATG’s Who’s Next In Technology and the (ISC)² Cyber Safety and Education award; and acknowledged as one of Pittsburgh’s top connectors and engineers by Technical.ly as a result of her work in the community.
Developing and refining product strategy for social impact initiatives, nonprofits, and community-centered organizations by using human-centered design; preventing the all-too-common pitfall of resources lost to well-intentioned projects that miss their mark because of educated guesses or generalized assumptions.
Women In Tech PGH is a social impact agency that uses established solutions backed by both institutional and community research to develop and sustain a robust technology workforce. Our frameworks ensure that candidates in our programs don’t just know the skills, but also know how to be good employees so that they can contribute in meaningful and efficient ways.
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