Alison Levine Keynote Speaker

Alison Levine is a history-making polar explorer and mountaineer. She served as team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition, climbed the highest peak on each continent, and skied to both the North and South Poles—a feat known as the Adventure Grand Slam, achieved by only twenty people worldwide.

In January 2008, Levine made history as the first American to complete a 600-mile traverse across West Antarctica to the South Pole, following the route of legendary explorer Reinhold Messner. She completed the journey on skis while hauling 150 pounds of gear and supplies in a sled harnessed to her waist. She made history again in 2016 by completing two first ascents: Hall Peak in Antarctica and Khang Karpo in Nepal. Her achievements in extreme environments are especially remarkable given that she has undergone three heart surgeries and suffers from Raynaud’s disease, a condition that causes the arteries in the fingers and toes to constrict in cold weather, placing her at extreme risk for frostbite.

In addition to climbing mountains, Levine has climbed the corporate ladder. She built a successful career in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries in the United States and Asia. After earning her MBA, she transitioned into finance, working in various roles on Wall Street before serving as Deputy Finance Director for Arnold Schwarzenegger during his successful campaign for Governor of California.

When not pushing physical limits outdoors, Levine focuses on developing leaders. She spent four years as an adjunct professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. In 2013, she transitioned from training cadets to working with corporate leaders and currently serves on the board and faculty of the Thayer Leadership Group at West Point, one of the nation’s premier executive leadership development programs. She was a contributing author to Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services, and First Responders (Naval Institute Press) and served as a board member and Senior Fellow at Duke University’s Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics.

Levine has also worked to improve the lives of unemployed women in western Uganda by training them to become trekking guides and porters in their local mountains, enabling them to earn sustainable wages through climbing-related tourism. Prior to this initiative, prostitution was the primary income option available to women in the region. Her efforts led to the first all-female group of local women successfully summiting Uganda’s highest peak, Mount Stanley. This work is featured in the PBS documentary Living Courageously.

Levine is the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award annually memorialized in the Congressional Record and officially recognized by both houses of Congress as one of the nation’s most prestigious honors.

A highly sought-after consultant and keynote speaker on leadership development, Levine has addressed audiences ranging from Fortune 500 companies and professional sports teams to the World Economic Forum in Davos. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments. Drawing on her experiences in some of the world’s most dangerous and inhospitable locations, she speaks on building cohesive teams, taking responsible risks, and developing no-nonsense leaders who thrive in times of uncertainty.

Levine was inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame in 2018. She holds a BA and an honorary PhD from the University of Arizona, as well as an MBA from Duke University, where she currently serves on the Board of Visitors. She also served as executive producer of the documentary film PASANG: In the Shadow of Everest, which chronicles the life of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (1961–1993), the first female Sherpa to summit Mount Everest.