Alison T.
McNeil
Alison T.
McNeil
Alison T. McNeil
Founder & Chief Creative Officer
Alison T. McNeil is a cultural strategist, evaluator, and trusted advisor who helps organizations understand how culture creates change—and how to use that understanding to enhance their decision making. As Founder and Chief Creative Officer of McNeil Creative Enterprises (MCE), she works at the intersection of strategy, learning, evaluation, and creative practice, helping organizations make informed decisions, align strategy with impact, and build more sustainable futures.
Alison brings more than two decades of experience spanning the arts, philanthropy, education, and the creative industries. Her connection to the arts began in childhood and continued alongside her professional work in education and research. She has performed on stages around the world, taught dance, worked as a voiceover artist, and contributed to live production and creative direction for major music festivals and award shows. Those experiences give her a perspective that bridges artistic practice and strategic insight—and an understanding of the cultural sector from both inside the work and alongside the institutions that support it.
Today, through MCE, she leads culturally responsive evaluation, strategic learning, facilitation, and advisory engagements for foundations, government agencies, nonprofits, and arts organizations. Her clients have included the Barr Foundation, Wallace Foundation, Heinz Endowments, the International Association of Blacks in Dance, Dance/USA, Color Congress, the League of American Orchestras, and many others.
Alison is also the author of the Impact Roadmap™ and founder of The Creator’s Well, MCE’s learning platform offering tools, coaching, and experiences that help arts and cultural leaders define, substantiate, use, and communicate their impact. She also hosts Cultural Catalysts, where she brings greater visibility to the producers, publicists, funders, strategists, and other behind-the-scenes leaders who help shape culture.
In 2009, Alison co-founded Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA), a network advancing leadership, visibility, and opportunity across the arts. She is a Recording Academy member, has contributed to the Smithsonian's Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap, and regularly serves on national arts funding panels. Alison holds a B.A. from Hampton University and an M.A. from American University. She is a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alumna, a 2022 Intercultural Leadership Institute Fellow, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, The BOW Collective, and the American Evaluation Association.
