REFLECTIONS ON FILM CULTURE

Fandor Festival Podcast Ep. 39: Alison Levine, Documentarian, Polar Explorer & Mountaineer

The team sits down with Alison Levine, Documentarian, Polar Explorer & Mountaineer. Alison is the executive producer of: “Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest;” which has its WORLD PREMIER at The 37th Annual Santa Barbara Film Festival running March 2-12, 2022. Alison will be in attendance for the second screening of the film. (bfiweek.com)

Alison Levine is a history-making polar explorer and mountaineer. She served as team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition, climbed the highest peak on each continent and skied to both the North and South Poles—a feat known as the Adventure Grand Slam—which only twenty people in the world have achieved. In January 2008, she made history as the first American to complete a 600-mile traverse across west Antarctica to the South Pole following the route of legendary explorer Reinhold Messner.

In addition to climbing mountains, Levine has also spent time climbing the corporate ladder. She has worked for several Fortune 500 companies in both sales and marketing roles and spent three years in finance at Goldman Sachs. She left Wall Street in 2003 to serve as Deputy Finance Director for Arnold Schwarzenegger in his successful bid to become governor of California.

When not challenging herself in the outdoors, Levine focuses on training others to become strong leaders. She is the author of the New York Times best-seller On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and other Extreme Environments, and the founder of the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of jobless women in western Uganda by training them to be trekking guides and porters in their local mountains, thus allowing them to earn a sustainable living wage through climbing-related tourism.

In 2019, Levine was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Not to mention, Levine’s life story was the inspiration for a craft beer called Conquer the Route Chocolate Stout which is distributed by Bold Missy Brewery and features her likeness on the label! We’re honored to have Alison join us on our podcast today.

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