Allison Leach

Passionate, highly effective, strategic business leader with an extensive background in technology, solution selling, and building high-level relationships with new and existing clients. Skilled at responding to the needs of the customer, working in both small startup environments, as well as large fortune 500 corporations, and collaborating across diverse teams and functions. Adept at earning the respect and influencing others by demonstrating strategic thinking, positive outcomes and service orientation with humility. Current aspiration to transition away from corporate sales environment into a strategic leadership role within a foundation, NGO, or government agency concerned with improving the lives of others in the developing world.

In December of 2015 I completed a M.S. degree with a focus on global technology and development at Arizona State University. The M.S. in Global Technology and Development at Arizona State University is a part of the Institute for the Future of Innovation in Society. The masters program focuses on international social, economic and political development and analyzes change within the context of the current era of globalization. One of the central concerns addressed in the program is the global disparity in wealth and access to resources and basic needs, both between and within countries.

A requirement for the masters program is to engage in independent social science research on issues related to technology and human socioeconomic and political development within nations around the world. In the summer of 2015, I spent the months of May and June conducting research in Morocco and Spain focused on comparing educational systems and the potential impact access to education has on gender equality within each country. I then followed up in the fall of 2015 with another independent research project focused on examining how female presidential candidates are framed by U.S. media to determine if it varies from other international agencies. The ultimate goal of the research was to examine why there have been some female leaders elected as the head of state in some countries but not others. Copies of this research are available upon request.