Alison (Ali) Toal 

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business

“Young professional with a passion for public service.”

Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin

Fun Fact About Yourself: I come from a large family and my mom is one of twelve. I have 40 first cousins on her side alone.

Undergraduate School and Major: Luther College, Business Administration

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: United States Senate, Legislative Assistant

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One of the biggest accomplishments I have had in my career would be having saved a rural hospital that was at risk of closure. When I was working for Senator Gardner, the CEO of a rural hospital in Colorado called our office in hysterics because the financial situation of the hospital was so dire that she was sure they would have to close. After doing additional digging, we realized that the hospital was eligible to change its designation and receive higher reimbursements from the government in order to stay open. I did all the advocacy work of communicating with the administration on behalf of this hospital and ultimately, we were able to persuade CMS to change their designation. This hospital that was all but destined to close is still open and it was a powerful moment to be a part of it for me.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Accomplished yet humble. Everyone in my class comes from an enormous range of industries, backgrounds, and parts of the world that brings a unique perspective into everything we do in and outside the classroom. Everyone is so accomplished, yet no one carries themselves in an arrogant way whatsoever. I have been so impressed with the unique experiences of everyone in my class and the things I have learned from them already. I’m very much so looking forward to getting to know everyone better and learning more from them throughout business school.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The opportunities at Georgetown and in Washington, DC are incomparable to any other city or school. This city is the epicenter of power which dictates what goes on in the business world and Georgetown McDonough is poised to harness that power to launch its graduates into whatever field they choose to pursue. I came to McDonough because I knew it was the place that was going to help get me to achieve my career goals and move into the career I want to go. The community environment, global perspective, and Jesuit values foster a support network that is unlike any other school, which was an important factor to me too.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am most looking forward to participating in the Graduate Women in Business Club and being an active member of that group. Georgetown is also celebrating 60 years of Women at the McDonough School of Business and I am hoping to help organize and tell their stories.

In my career thus far, I have been incredibly involved in women’s organizations to advance women in public policy and I am looking forward to extending my involvement in the private sector too. I volunteered with the Political Institute for Women’s Camp Congress where I was able to teach young girls about running for office and becoming more politically involved. It was an incredibly rewarding experience watching my students give their campaign speeches and hearing what issues were most important to them. Supporting and increasing the number of women in leadership roles is something I am incredibly passionate about and hope to be involved with throughout my time at Georgetown and in my career ahead.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? The most challenging question I was asked throughout the admissions process was to explain some of the accomplishments I have had at work. Working for the government is really unique and difficult to explain to people who don’t have that experience. The Senator whom I worked for is one of the most bipartisan members of the Senate and a lot of the victories that we had are difficult to describe to someone who doesn’t know the inner workings of the Senate. I also think that a lot of my experiences didn’t naturally translate into an obvious way as people who came from more traditional career paths.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Working in healthcare policy, I handled the full range of healthcare issues from addiction, recovery and mental health services to drug pricing and public health crises too. By handling such a wide range of issues, I was able to learn which parts of the system I was more passionate about and wanted to focus on. Having an older brother with special needs, I’ve understood how important access to care is and shouldn’t be taken for granted. There are procedures available now that could have prevented the severity of my brother’s disability. None of that was available to my family when my brother was born and had we had the opportunity to make sure he had that procedure it’s crazy to think about where we would be now.

Through these experiences, I was able to learn how much I want to work directly in industry to help increase access to care either on the health plan side or working with companies developing new treatments and cures. Working in the Senate, everyone is representing their boss’s unique goals and constituencies that rarely align with each other. I was ready to work somewhere with people who have aligned common goals and want to achieve the same outcome.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? University of Virginia Darden School of Business

How did you determine your fit at various schools? The most important factor for me was finding somewhere with a strong community environment that was going to help me achieve my goals. I come from a non-traditional background and I wanted to feel safe learning new concepts that were a bit foreign to me. After visiting Georgetown and speaking with alumni, faculty, and everyone in between, I immediately felt that this was a community. I knew their reputation, network and ability to help me achieve my objective, but I wanted to make sure there was a sense of community. My office in the Senate was truly a family and it was incredibly difficult for me to leave. Replicating that type of environment was incredibly important for me and I knew Georgetown was the place I was going to be able to have that continuity.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I would say that a defining moment for me has been probably having a brother with a severe disability and two younger siblings. I am the second oldest, but have always assumed the role of oldest to help my mom make sure that we get everything done. I assumed a lot of adult responsibilities from an early age and always took an all-hands-on-deck approach when it came to my family. That is definitely something I bring into the workplace and is something I attribute to most of my success. Having a family member who has such high needs, you really learn not to sweat the small stuff and how to be there for other people in need. I think that my compassionate nature and the way that I extend myself for other people comes from my understanding and experiences with how my family struggled with basic tasks of daily living.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?  In ten years, I hope to be working in business development or strategy for a large health plan or pharmaceutical company. I want to dedicate my career to increasing access to care and services for people in need. I hope to work directly with state governments in my role to increase services and advocate on behalf of people in need.