Speakers and Chairs Bios

Allyson Stewart-Allen is a renowned advisor, author, speaker and educator whose expertise in brand internationalisation is sought by leading businesses globally through her consultancy, publications, appearances and corporate education.

A Californian based in Europe for over 25 years, Allyson applies her extensive international consulting experience, MBA education with Dr. Peter Drucker and languages (French, German) to the company she founded, International Marketing Partners.

Using its BrandTravel™ methodology, Allyson helps companies and their leaders to successfully and profitably span international and functional boundaries by giving them the tools to be more effective in a global arena. The benefits clients enjoy as a result include better localisation, increased corporate diplomacy capability and more effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Consultancy
Following her early career with blue-chip consulting firms PwC, PA Consulting Group and Hay Management Consultants, Allyson now advises Boards of Directors and corporate leaders in the services (legal, property and financial), luxury, retail, travel, hospitality and industrial sectors to name a few. Her expertise enables them to lead across cultures, achieve marketing and business development strategies, integrate acquisitions and build their corporate diplomacy skills. Allyson has advised more than 200 businesses in 26 countries including Aegis, BAE Systems, Burberry, Cadbury, Coach, HSBC, Lufthansa, NBC Universal, SAB Miller and Shell. Detailed examples of her client projects can be found on the company’s website.

Publications
Allyson is co-author of the best-selling book Working with Americans (Prentice Hall), the first business manual exclusively about US business culture, which helps professionals improve their relationships with, and profits from, American business partners, bosses and colleagues. Notably, it is the first business book to feature at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival. Allyson is also a contributing author of The FT Handbook of Management, Win New Business and author of all 3 editions of Marketing in the USA for UK Trade & Investment. She is also a regular columnist for Market Leader magazine.

Appearances?
Allyson is an experienced and frequent commentator lending her insights to broadcast, print and digital media across the globe. Besides her 4-year slot for Sky News as The Muse of Marketing, she has appeared on several television shows including CNBC’s The Business Class and three times for the past two seasons of BBC’s The Apprentice. Other outlets applying her insights include BBC News, ITV News, CNN, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, USA Today, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Fortune magazines.

Corporate Education?
Allyson is engaged for her award-winning corporate education experience by Fortune 100 companies and the world’s leading business schools including The Moller Centre Cambridge University, Said Business School Oxford University where she is an Associate Fellow, London Business School, Duke Corporate Education, HEC Paris and Copenhagen Business School amongst others.

Awards
Allyson is included in The Female FTSE Report 2014:100 Women to Watch list (Cranfield International Centre for Women Business Leaders), Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who Among Women. In addition, she is the first-ever two-time winner of the European Foundation for Management Development’s Excellence in Practice Award recognising leadership programme innovation for those she conceived and delivered for Lufthansa (London Business School, 2009) and BAE Systems (Said Business School - Oxford University, 2012).


Speaker, judge, mentor
A frequent keynote speaker at international conferences, Allyson has appeared on the platforms of The Conference Board, Wilton Park, Economist Conferences, Institute of Directors Conferences, British American Chamber of Commerce, Marketing Society, Content Marketing Association, Retail Week, Festival of Marketing, American Marketing Association amongst others to share her BrandTravel™ and corporate diplomacy expertise. She also serves as a judge for the National Business Awards, British American Business CHASE Awards, The Stevies® International Business Awards and UK Women in Marketing Awards. She is also a Mentor for the Mayor of London’s International Business Programme.


Education
Allyson holds a BSc degree in International Business, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California as well as an MBA from The Drucker School, Claremont Graduate University under the direct tutelage of Dr. PeterDrucker.


Associations
Fellow, Chartered Institute of Marketing; Fellow, British American Project; Member, International Women’s Forum; Member, Advisory Board, National Business Awards; Member, Advisory Board, IORMA; Member, Advisory Board, Institute for Leadership Studies - Loyola Marymount University; Senior Advisor, Business for Diplomatic Action (until end-of-mission Dec 2010).
Originally from Los Angeles, Allyson has been London-based since 1988, a UK/US dual-national and creator of Evening of Fascinating Women, a high-profile networking event for women leaders.