Alison McGuigan, Vice President, The Cohen Group

Alison McGuigan joined The Cohen Group in early 2013 after 15 years with Austrade (The Australian Trade Commission). Her experience ranges from working with entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies to develop new business in Europe, Africa, South East Asia, and Australia. Her industry focus has been in technology (telecoms, media and software), retail, clean energy, and water management. She also has an in-depth understanding of trade, innovation and economic development policies in various jurisdictions and their implementation.

Prior to joining The Cohen Group, Ms. McGuigan was Australia's Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner based in the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC. There she held responsibility for Australia's commercial relationship with the US, managing five offices across the continental US. During her tenure she assisted Australian firms during the 2008 financial crisis, established the clean energy and environment portfolio, as well as ensuring growth of contracts under the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Her previous roles in Austrade included postings in the United Kingdom, Hungary, and head office in Australia. In Head Office, she ran the global technology practice.

Early in her career she worked as an executive with two startup firms: a think-tank on innovation and technology policy (CIRCIT) and an information services firm taking their business to Asia and Africa (AIC, bought by Euromoney).

A native of Australia, Ms. McGuigan graduated from The University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in psychology) and a Bachelor of Laws. She was awarded her Masters from MIT in 2012 as a member of the prestigious Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership.