Mike Feerick is Founder & CEO of ALISON, a pioneer in free online certified learning for the workplace. Launched April 2007, ALISON is widely credited as the world’s first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) provider. With 11 million registered learners with 1.5m million graduates of its 850 free courses worldwide. ALISON leads a movement that is revolutionizing global access for millions of people to new education and employment opportunity.
Inspired by Article 26, UN Human Rights Declaration which states that “education shall be free”, Mr. Feerick is an internationally recognised social entrepreneur receiving a Diploma Award from UNESCO for innovation in education (2010), an Ashoka Fellowship (2011), and a Guinness Social Fund Award (2012). In 2013, ALISON was a WISE Award winner. He was a World Economic Forum Social Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist 2016.
Mr. Feerick is a popular speaker worldwide on the future of workplace learning and has been featured across international media including The New York Times, Forbes, The Guardian and The Economist. Based in Ireland, he founded and chairs the Irish international Diaspora Programme unifying 80 people of Irish descent worldwide. He holds degrees from the University of Limerick, Ireland, (BBS 89) and Harvard University (MBA 94).
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