Allison Larsen has more than three decades of experience in business and economic development, working with businesses, non-profits, communities, regional and state-wide groups across 26 U.S. states and Canadian provinces. Her work cultivates creative, innovative, and empowered individuals and groups through inclusive engagement and visual thinking. Allison leads with heart and magically links her professional doodling to strategic thinking in a way that includes everyone. Not only is Allison a visual and virtual champion, she is also a certified economic developer (CEcD) and serves on the International Economic Development Board.

Allison is well-known for her innovative approach to strategy. It’s dynamic and iterative – a sound approach for navigating these complex times. At the core of her work is intentional capacity building for empowering teams, so they adeptly adjust to changing conditions while staying aligned to purpose. Inventing together yields ownership of the strategy, and that means real work gets done and important things accomplished.

Working in front-line business recruitment in California at the Madera Industrial Development Corporation and the EDC serving Fresno County, she recruited companies yielding more than 9,000 jobs. Allison worked 11 years as Principal at Chabin Concepts, an economic development consulting firm. Her diverse background – from growing up in a small rural community (less than 4,000 population) in Northern California to a national award-winning salesperson at a Fortune 100 “Most Admired” Company (Merck & Co.) – has influenced her perspective to learn from every situation. Allison’s entrepreneurship endeavors did not start with TadZo. She established an international distribution network for a venture capitalist, and even put herself through college by raising a flock of sheep.

Allison is a graduate of the University of California, Davis; the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute; and a Fellow of the California Agricultural Leadership Program. Allison is formally trained as a facilitator by the Center for Visual Facilitation, Liberating Structures, and The Grove. In addition to in-person events, Allison has creatively facilitated numerous global virtual sessions since 2018 (before it was a necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

TadZo is named after her two dogs: Tadich and Enzo.