Since retiring from the Coady International Institute (Nova Scotia, Canada) in 2017, Alison has carried out short-term consulting and teaching for the Coady Institute and other organizations from her home base in rural Nova Scotia. Her experience in the international development field spans over 45 years. In that time, all over the world, she has encountered diverse ways in which people organize to bring about change in their communities. Inspired by McKnight and Kretzmann's work and seeing how it resonated with development practitioners from the Global South, she co-designed and co-facilitated educational programmes in asset-based and citizen-led development (ABCD) for the Coady Institute, along with Gord Cunningham and Brianne Peters. She also taught courses in participatory evaluation, action research, development studies, and gender analysis. She continues to be involved in collaborative participatory research initiatives notably with Coady and the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India, along with consulting work in evaluation.
Alison completed a PhD in Program Evaluation and Planning from Cornell University, and a MA in Sociology from the University of Guelph in Canada, both of which enriched (and were enriched by) the profound learning offered in local communities through on-the-ground experience. Her collaborations with colleagues have sought to draw attention to these communities and citizen-organizing, examples being:
Mathie, A. and Gaventa, J. (Eds.) (2015). Citizen-led innovation for a new economy. Halifax, NS.: Fernwood Press.
Mathie, A. and Cunningham, G. (Eds.) (2009). From clients to citizens: Communities changing the course of their own development. Rugby, UK: Practical Action.
In retirement, she and her husband appreciate all that rural Nova Scotia has to offer while also spending more time with Toronto-based sons, Angus and Robin, and granddaughters, Nell and Quinn.