Alicia Bassuk is a special advisor to individuals and teams internationally, providing clients guidance in maximizing leadership effectiveness, optimizing strategic cohesion, and shifting cultures to align with performance. Clients have nicknamed her a CEO whisperer, Swiss army knife, Olivia Pope, fairy godmother, drill sergeant, secret weapon, triage surgeon and Yoda. Clients include presidential appointees, world class artists and executives in the sports & entertainment sectors, and senior leaders at organizations such as Basketball Africa League, Salesforce, vmware, Christie’s, United Nations, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, McKinsey, Russell Reynolds, Sienna Capital, Rockefeller Foundation, Poderistas and Equis Labs.
In 2019, Bassuk was awarded an NBA championship ring as special advisor to the President, GM and Head Coach of the Toronto Raptors. In 2021, Bassuk was awarded a WNBA championship ring as special advisor for the GM/Head Coach and players of the Chicago Sky. For both franchises it was their first championship season. Bassuk is also an online contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Oprah Magazine, HuffPost and CNN, and is the author of And the Cloud Yelled Back. Her essay is included in the 2022 publication of the HBR Working Parent Series Doing It All as a Solo Parent.
Bassuk has an MBA in finance and marketing from University of Chicago Booth Business School where she was a Chicago Business Fellow and conducted research at the Center for the Study of Urban Inequality. She also has a B.A. in Political Science from Wesleyan University where she led the Latino student group and played lacrosse. Bassuk is certified in mediation through Northwestern University School of Law.
Bassuk is a partner and investor in several ventures, including Kinzie Capital Partners and Core Innovation Capital. She holds dual citizenship (Argentina), co-leads the University of Chicago Latinx Alumni Network, serves on the Board of Harlem based Futuro Media Group, is a co-author of the Harvard SAFRA Center Covid Roadmap, and donates her time to London based Chineke! Orchestra.
