Cathy Allison

Biography

Cathy has over 35 years of experience in the telecom, IT, media and cultural industries, holding senior roles in market research, consulting, product management, industry analysis, strategic planning and policy development. In addition to executive-level positions at Nortel Networks, Bell Canada and Merrill Lynch Canada, she has worked in a senior capacity for several research and consulting firms, including Gartner Group, a global IT research and analysis firm, and was President of the Mercury Group, a Canadian media consulting and research firm. She is the Manager of Radio Policy at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and has been a university and college educator, technology commentator and business writer since the mid-1980s. She is currently leading the development of a new Indigenous Broadcasting Policy at the CRTC.

She holds MA (Communication Studies) and B. Music degrees from Carleton University, and a BA (Hons.) degree from Trinity College, University of Toronto. Her teaching and research interests include music, communication and media regulation.

She has been a member of several boards including the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Canadian Women in Communications, and Project TEMBO, a Canadian NGO that secures funding for developing micro-finance projects and educating women in Tanzania.