Alison was born in Sacramento, California and spent her formative years in Taipei, Taiwan. She was raised in an Air Force family, moving back and forth between Fairfax, VA and the beautiful island.  Her father later retired and joined a US multinational firm to manage its electronics factory in the southern port and Export Processing Zone of KaoHsiung.  She graduated high school from a boarding school in Taichung, Taiwan before returning to the USA for university.  She graduated from the University of California-Berkeley with a Bachelors degree, and The London School of Economics with a Masters of Science degree.