Allison Chin is President is the Sierra Club, the United States of America’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization.  The mission of the Sierra Club is: To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives. 

For the past 118 years, the Sierra Club has combined grassroots organizing, lobbying, litigation and public education to win major victories that safeguard the country’s natural resources and change the way Americans relate to the natural world.

Allison has served on the Sierra Club’s Board of Directors since 2007 and as the President since 2008.  She holds a life membership and joined in the early 80's to fight for the protection of public lands.  Allison has led numerous initiatives in both grassroots and national leadership roles within the Club, including chairing the award-winning outdoor activities program and leading a major reorganization of the Sierra Club in response to strategic and governance challenges to the Club. 

She has been an outings leader for over 20 years, and led over 200 trips that have connected thousands of youth with the natural environment.   During her tenure on the Board, Allison has focused on organizational and board development.  She has been an advocate for increased diversity of the club’s membership and leadership, and partnerships with a diverse range of allies, from community justice and youth groups to labor unions to national-security experts, as well as strategic partnerships with green businesses.  Allison also serves on the Steering Committee for the Club’s Climate Recovery Partnership, a multi-faceted initiative that will help cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050, create a clean-energy economy, and protect our natural heritage, communities, and country from the consequences of global warming. 

Prior to this, Allison worked at Geron Corporation, focused on developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases. She has led multidisciplinary domestic and international project teams in the biotechnology sector focused on discovery and development of novel therapeutics for cancer and HIV. 

Allison is a molecular cell biologist and earned her BA from the University of California in San Diego and her PhD at the University of Southern California.