Profile
Office: 72 Fifth Avenue, Room 507, New York, NY 10011 | 212-229-5400 Ext 1617 | [email protected]
My name is Charles Allison. I am an Associate Professor of Professional Practice at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment at The New School in New York City. I have taught at the University since 2006. At Milano, I’ve taught courses in infrastructure, finance, accounting and financial management, entrepreneurship and impact investing, urban policy analysis and management, and leadership. My interests lie in the areas of business administration and management, entrepreneurship, strategy and leadership. I specialize in business process evaluation and improvement, evaluating for-profit and not-for-profit business models and operations, organizational strategy, leadership across a broad spectrum, governance, and renewable energy as it relates to national security.
I have been a visiting senior lecturer at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University, a Fellows Program Mentor at The Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship at MIT, an Executive Energy Leadership Program Participant at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and as a strategy and leadership civilian participant in a National Security Seminar at the U.S. Army War College.
I have more than 20 years of work experience in investment banking and risk evaluation, direct private market and foundation investing focused on impact investing, state and local economic development finance, and renewable energy, especially biodiesel for U.S. Military fuel use, and solar power for use in housing and distributed electricity generation. Since 2010, I have been Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Biofuels (CWBiofuels), an alternative energy project development company. The renewable and traditional energy landscape is changing: a plethora of natural gas in the U.S., the global supply glut in fossil fuels, and the new political environment in D.C. Notwithstanding, CWBiofuels remains committed to supporting the development of drop-in fuel alternatives.
Previous professional experience includes Vision Consulting Associates, a corporate finance and economic development advisory firm that consults on alternative energy projects in the United States and abroad, works with local and federal governmental agencies, assists entrepreneurs in growing their businesses, and works with small- and medium-sized business to improve their business processes; JP Morgan & Co.: Merrill Lynch & Co.: James D. Wolfensohn, Inc.: Barclays Bank: and The F.B. Heron Foundation. I lived in Johannesburg, South Africa working for a pan-African investment management company and a middle-market private equity fund.
I earned an AB from Dartmouth College with a major in Geography and a concentration in Environmental Studies, focusing on agricultural land use and agribusiness, and an MBA at Harvard Business School, where I focused on finance, general management and entrepreneurship. I currently serve on the board of directors of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, as Co-Vice President of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of New York City, and a member of the Alumni Council at Dartmouth College. At The New School I also serve as the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility (ACIR), reporting to the Investment Committee of The New School’s Board of Trustees and the President’s Office, and I am an elected member of the University Faculty Senate, where I also serve as a co-chair. I am also a Senior Member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School.
Degrees Held
M.B.A., Harvard Business School, with a focus on Finance, General Management, and Entrepreneurship.
A.B., Dartmouth College, with a major in Geography, and a concentration in Environmental Studies, focusing on Agricultural Land Use and Agribusiness.
Professional Affiliation
Academy of Management
Alumni Council at Dartmouth College
U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Executive Energy Leadership Program
U.S. Army War College Foundation
Recent Publications
Op-Eds: “Immigration Reform = Growth” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and "People’s Climate March: Marchers Wanted, Big Business Need Not Apply" (blog)
Performances and Appearances
Invited by the Museum of the City of New York to speak at Greening the Grid: New York's Energy Forum - a panel discussion with leadners in the field who are on the forefront of revolutioning the CIty's energy in the face of changing demand, the rise of renewables, and the advent of community-based generation and distribution (2017).
Invited by the Harvard Foundation of Mexico to speak in Mexico CIty and Monterrey, Mexico on the topic of Graduate Business Education in the U.S. (2017).
Invited by Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) to speak on a panel and conduct a workshop of Graduate Business Education (2017).
Invited to participate in the 2016 White House Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2016) at Stanford University.
Invited by the U.S. State Department, The U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan Central Bank and Unibank to speak on what Azerbainjan Banking System Could Learn from the 2008 Financial Crisis in U.S. Banking (2015).
Invited to attend the 7th Annual White House Tribal Nations Conference (2015).
Selected to participate in the 2012 Executive Energy Leadership Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) - earned a certificate in Renewable Energy Leadership.
Selected to participate in the 2013 National Security Seminar at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA. - earned a certificate in National Security Leadership.
Research Interests
For-profit and Not-for-profit Entrepreneurship, Community and Economic Development, U.S. Energy Independence, Food Policy and Food Security, General Management, Immigration Reform, Large-scale Environmental and Energy Infrastructure Development, National Security, and Strategic Change