With more than 23 years of experience in trade associations, Allison Grealis is Founder and President of the Women in Manufacturing® Association (WiM), a global trade association focused on supporting, promoting and inspiring women at all levels in the manufacturing sector. She is also President of the WiM Education Foundation, the 501(c)(3) arm of WiM, which provides effective and affordable educational opportunities for women in manufacturing.
Allison is also Host of Hear Her Story, WiM’s monthly podcast celebrating the stories of incredible women from different roles and niche industries within manufacturing. Since its launch in April 2021, Hear Her Story has recorded 35 episodes, yielding 10,241 downloads. Allison is also regularly featured on other industry podcasts and in the media, and is a frequent speaker at industry events, including the Financial Times’ Future of Manufacturing Summit, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence Conference, the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit and the Generis American Manufacturing Summit.
Outside of her work with WiM, Allison currently serves as a member of the Saint Joseph Academy Engineering and Design Honors Program Advisory Board; as a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee for the Council of Manufacturing Associations; as an Executive Committee member for the Cleveland chapter of the Private Directors Association; as a member of the Membership Committee and Cleveland Business Leaders group at the Union Club of Cleveland; as a member of the Coalition for Women in Industry and as Vice-Chair of the National Skilled Trades Coalition. Allison was a past chair of the alumnae board and former board member of Our Lady of the Elms High School and past president of the Cleveland chapter of the Greater Cleveland Society of Association Executives.
Recognized as one of Crain’s Cleveland Business 2018 Women of Note, which celebrates women for their outstanding leadership in the community, Allison went on to become the 2021 recipient of the Leadership in Manufacturing Award from Empowering Women in Industry. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English with a Certificate in Women’s Studies from Ohio University, and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Akron.
