Fortier, Alison: - Alison Fortier has lived and worked in and around Washington, D.C., for more than thirty years. She began her career on Capitol Hill working as staff for the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives. She then worked in the State Department and on the staff of the National Security Council in the White House before moving to private industry. She is the widow of Donald Fortier and the mother of Graham and Merrill. Alison has a BA in government from the College of William & Mary and an MA in history from the University of Michigan.