Allison Alley & Michael Messenger

Allison Alley, CEO of Compassion Canada and Michael Messenger, President of World Vision Canada are two leaders who want to keep their respective organization’s mission on people’s minds. If you feel like you are on the edge of your leadership capacity, listen in. In this episode, Allison and Michael discuss why it is important to connect with other leaders, even those who may be positioned as your competitor.

3 Insights From Michael and Allison

1) Focus On The Mission

Michael and Allison both work for different organizations with very similar missions. Michael makes a great point that him and Allison have slightly different slices of the mission, but it’s still about the same mission. So Allison and Michael really work together with their organizations to achieve the mission that they are both striving for. 

2) Organizational Humility

In this episode, Allison tells the story of the Tower of Babel, and how the real sin wasn’t that they wanted to build something great, but that they just wanted to make a name for themselves. So Allison poses the idea of “what does it really look like to say it’s not about us.” It’s about joining together to advance the mission. She says it’s about being humble as an organization to accept that you can do more together than you could ever do apart. 

3) Scarcity vs. Abundance

Allison Alley and Michael Messenger

Michael uses the analogy that we are all family at the dinner table. He says there is enough room for all of us and an abundance of resources for us. Michael says that it is important to look towards the future and how we can get more people to the table. It’s important to create these opportunities in our organizations so that going forward we can include more at the table. Want to hear the full conversation? Click here to listen in and learn more from Allison Alley & Michael Messenger.

About Allison Alley:

Allison Alley is the President and CEO of Compassion Canada, a global development organization that exists to permanently end childhood poverty in all its forms. She holds a Master of Arts in Global Leadership with an emphasis in International Development and Urban Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Master of Business Administration from Ivey Business School. Allison and her husband, Tommy, live in London, Ontario and have two daughters.

About Michael Messenger:

Michael first joined World Vision in 1990 and was involved in early advocacy efforts in Canada and Geneva. After five years, Michael moved to attend law school and then practiced law for nine years in Halifax. As a partner at Cox & Palmer, he developed a broad litigation practice and served as chief counsel to a high-profile public inquiry on issues of youth justice. He then returned to World Vision and served as Vice-President, Public Affairs and Executive Vice-President before assuming the role of President in 2015. His leadership has sponsored numerous cross-functional initiatives and strategies throughout the Partnership. He has a degree in economics from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts and a law degree from the University of Toronto. In his spare time, Michael runs marathons with Team World Vision, raising awareness and funds for children so they can reach their God-given potential.