History
Allison Lee and David Walek met while lecturing and working together in an MIT Sloan School of Management elective called "The Law and Tough Calls", which investigated the difficult and complex questions and situations that arise in the business world and how to address them from a legal and leadership standpoint.
Allison has spent over a decade advising corporations, nonprofits, academic institutions and international organizations in the CSR/community involvement space, and has written white papers and published articles on CSR-related topics. Her work at MIT included managing and executing MIT Sloan's executive education program on sustainability. David is a former corporate lawyer who has spent his decades-long legal career representing many prominent, multinational companies as partner at Ropes & Gray LLP, one of the preeminent law firms in the country, and has brought his highly regarded and wide ranging transactional and operational experience to his teaching at Sloan.
Allison and David share a belief that we are at a moment in history where there is an enormous opportunity and need for businesses at all levels and in all segments of the the economy to step up their thoughtful contributions to society-- and that those businesses that do not do so will see their competitive position erode. As they discussed this shared belief, they also began to realize that their individual fields of experience complemented each other’s in surprising, and synergistic, ways.
At Ropes & Gray, David spent many years representing large and small public and private companies, including many that had active CSR and foundation programs such as Reebok and EMC. In addition, David served for over 20 years as legal advisor and Board Chair of Artists for Humanity, a major Boston non-profit that was, and remains, a pioneer in partnering with business corporations and other institutions to advance its youth art, design and STEM programs. Through his many years of counseling companies through their strategic and operational decisions, David developed extensive experience and skills in working with business executives and boards, and expertise of the legal issues surrounding CSR, corporate governance and policy issues. Allison had worked for many years in the CSR world for a number of prominent organizations, such as FSG Social Impact Advisors, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, and MIT. She has been a consultant, a researcher, communications account supervisor, leadership development director, lecturer, all in the CSR field. Having been immersed in the entrepreneurial culture/ethic at MIT, Allison was interested in re-vamping a previous iteration of Alpine and combining her CSR consulting experience with David's legal and corporate background.
Allison and David created Alpine CSR LLC to leverage their unique combination of background and experience to help propel organizations, regardless of where they might be in their life cycles, into positive business outcomes with respect to their CSR programs.
Principals
Principal
Allison Lee
Allison Lee was formerly an Associate Director at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She has both a specialization in corporate social responsibility (CSR)/sustainability and a broad range of other management content, including leadership development, in her portfolio. Allison has several years of experience in the CSR/sustainability sector, and previously worked at Cone Communications, the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, FSG Social Impact Advisors, and the Brookings Institution. In that capacity, past clients have included EY,Pfizer, Merck, Best Buy, Aetna, Keds, Intel, HP, Gates Foundation, and the American Diabetes Association.
Allison has managed multiple CSR and sustainability projects with Fortune 500 and global corporations, with a focus on business and social impact metrics. For example, she managed the BCCCC’s Impact Measurement project, which developed a quantitative framework that companies use to measure the business value of their community involvement initiatives. She has also lectured and presented on CSR and corporate philanthropy to domestic and international academic and corporate audiences. Her work has involved gathering diverse organizations with shared social goals and then fostering innovative collaboration and cross-pollination both within and between these same organizations.
In addition to her CSR experience, she has designed and implemented executive leadership programs to develop professional and senior management capabilities to drive strategy and organizational change.
Allison holds a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College, and a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University.
PRincipal
David Walek
David was a lawyer for over 30 years, and a partner since 1989, in the Corporate Department at Ropes & Gray LLP, a large and distinguished Boston-based national and international law firm. David served as co-chair of the firm’s Technology and International Practice Groups, and was active in firm recruiting and lawyer education and development. At Ropes & Gray, David counseled numerous public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions, IPO’s and other securities offerings, joint ventures, board matters and corporate governance, venture capital financings and other corporate and securities law matters.
David’s clients at Ropes & Gray ranged from start-ups to major multinational corporations, as well as venture capital firms, investment banks and financial institutions. His clients included consumer branded products, technology, life science and manufacturing companies, and included such well-known companies as Reebok International Ltd., EMC Corporation, Millipore Corporation, Brookstone, Inc., and many others. His financial and investment clients included Pioneer Investments, 3i, General Catalyst, Globespan, Bain Capital Ventures, Goldman Sachs and Citibank.
David has for many years been a guest lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, teaching MBA and executive education classes on mergers and acquisitions, start-ups, VC financing, financial products and international joint ventures, corporate governance, decision-making and other matters.
David has been involved with Artists for Humanity since the early 1990’s and served for many years as Chair of the AFH Board of Directors and as its legal counsel. Artists for Humanity’s mission is to bridge economic, racial and social divisions by providing under-resourced urban youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in art and design services.
David holds a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University and a JD from Harvard Law School.