[8][9] Born in New York City, but raised in Limerick and Galway, Ireland,[10] Mike Feerick sought a Harvard MBA but first gained an internship with philanthropist and early mentor Chuck Feeney.

[11][12] Feerick has served as the Acting managing director of Interactive Investor International and has also held positions with Bertelsmann Music Group.

'[20] The Economist noted in 2013 that Alison generates 'plenty of revenue' on its website through the use of a freemium model with hosted banner advertising while still providing its learning materials of 'mostly vocational education' for free.

[21] Feerick said he was motivated by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26,[10][22] and suggested it as a model that can be used by governments worldwide to address the growing global Skills Gap.

[24][25] Alison received an Honourable Mention Award in information and communications technology at the UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize in Paris in 2010.

[26] In 2012, Feerick received an Arthur Guinness Fund award for Social Entrepreneurship for the work undertaken with organising the Irish diaspora through the Ireland Reaching Out programme he founded in 2009.