About
Dr. Alise Cortez is the Chief Purpose Officer at Alise Cortez and Associates (management consulting specializing in meaning and purpose) and Chief Ignition Officer at Gusto, Now! (a multi-lingual e-learning platform with well-being and leadership courses). She is also an inspirational speaker, social scientist, author, and host of the Working on Purpose radio show. Having developed her expertise within the human capital / organizational excellence industry over the last 20 years, she is focused on helping companies, leaders, and individuals across the globe to live with “gusto” and make the most of their one, precious life. She is the author of Purpose Ignited: How Inspiring Leaders Unleash Passion and Elevate Cause, and the Curator of Passionately Striving in “Why”: An Anthology of Women Who Persevere Mightily to Live Their Purpose.
Today Dr. Cortez is focused on enabling organizations to lead from purpose and create cultures of meaning that inspire impassioned performance, meaningful engagement and fulfillment, while encouraging a devoted stay within the organization. She has helped develop and transform thousands of managers and executives in their leadership along the way. She also helps companies “visioneer” by facilitating meaningful exchange among all stakeholders for an integrated and dynamic strategic future. For individuals, Dr. Cortez facilitates an online global community and various retreats to enable people hungry for a more meaningful and purposeful life to create it for themselves.
Alise began her human capital career in 1998 as a staffing professional at Analysts International and corporate recruitment consulting at VoiceStream/T-Mobile while simultaneously pursuing her doctorate degree. Her experience includes HR System implementation and change management consulting at Hewitt Associates and PepsiCo, and employee engagement assessment and consulting at the Center for Talent Solutions. She co-founded and served as VP of Sales & Marketing at Improved Experience, a consulting firm that offered online feedback solutions and research for the Human Resource and Recruiting industry. Dr. Cortez served as a Consultant for Insigniam, a management consulting firm specializing in breakthrough, innovation and transformation. She taught various Psychology courses at the University of Phoenix and Communication and Professional Seminar courses at Southern Methodist University as an Adjunct Faculty Professor. These accumulated experiences inform her practice helping companies with an array of human capital needs from recruiting, onboarding, employee training and development, change management, leadership development, and organizational transformation and now serve as foundation on the meaning and purpose focus she brings today.
After completing a Bachelors in Liberal Studies and a Masters in Liberal Studies (focusing on International Relations with South America), Alise earned a PhD in Human Development from Fielding Graduate University. Fascinated with how people choose and experience their work, her research and dissertation illuminated a fresh perspective on meaning in work and its relationship to personal identity. In a large post-doctoral research investigating meaning and work and identity qualitatively interviewing 115 men and women aged 18 to 80 from 20 industries, she built on this doctoral research and discovered 15 “Modes of Engagement” that help individuals understand their unique relationship to their work.
In addition to her Modes of Engagement research, Dr. Cortez’s work is informed by an education grounded in Humanistic/Positivist psychology and Existential Psychology’s Logotherapy. Alise has lived in Spain and Brazil, and traveled extensively across Western Europe, South America, and parts of Asia and Oceania. She is conversationally comfortable in Spanish and Portuguese and has some language ability in French and Italian. She strives to steward individuals and companies to reach their higher potential and the expression of their unique talents and creativity. She is constantly working to awaken and realize her own potential and absolutely delights in guiding and inspiring clients to do the same. She endeavors to enjoy a full life with frequent travel outside the US, hosting gatherings with good food and beverage, and being an active leader in her Dallas community. Alise has served on the following Boards in Dallas: YMCA at White Rock (past Chairman of the Board), Lakewood Service League (past President and fundraising Event Chair), Woodrow Wilson High School Community Foundation (past Needs Assessment Chair), Dallas Staffing Association (past VP of Professional Development and Diversity), and the Dallas Running Club (past Co-Race Director).
Specialties Include
- Viisioneering Stakeholders for Greater Purpose
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Articulating Company Purpose
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Developing Inspirational Leaders
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Strengths-Based Teams
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Grab Your Gusto: Well-Being from the Inside Out
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Meaning-Infused Culture
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Employee Engagement
Why Choose Alise
- 20 years of experience in the human capital industry, including talent acquisition, employee learning and development, employee engagement, leadership development, and talent retention, culture assessment/change, and organizational design and development
- Research-grounded subject matter expert in meaning and purpose
- Inspirational, uplifting message and masterful delivery
- Language talents in English (native), Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian
What Alise Cortez and Associates do / specialties
- Speaks to enlighten, enliven, and empower her audiences to go after the life and work they so deeply desire
- Catalyzes personal, professional, and leadership transformation that increases effectiveness, improves relationship for deeper connection, and increases the impact of results
- Procures and engages dynamic thought leaders on her radio podcast to help listeners across the globe more meaningfully and productively connect with their work
- Creates and provides useful and effective tools and resources that help people access possibility, growth, and higher levels of performing and leading
Certifications and Affiliations
What Clients Are Saying

Alise Cortez PhD
Alise facilitating a Strengths workshop with college students in Madurai, India December 2014.
Media Links
Diane McClay endorses Dr. Cortez’s book, Purpose Ignited: How Inspiring Leaders Unleash Passion and Elevate Cause
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Ym7p93d2w&feature=youtu.be
Interview with publisher Alison Jones of Practical Publishing about the book Purpose Ignited and why I wrote it
http://extraordinarybusinessbooks.com/episode-244-purpose-ignited-with-dr-alise-cortez/
Talking with Brent Stewart of the Everybody Matters Podcast and the Barry-Wehmiller Company about leadership and reflecting on a purposeful year in 2020
Talking with John Golden of Sales Pop about how to inspire yourself and others at work
How to Inspire Yourself and Others at Work (video) by Alise Cortez – SalesPOP!
Alise’s interview with Hugh Ballou talking about the opportunities the COVID pandemic has to help leaders reinvent the workplace
Interview with Dr. Wanda Wallace – Inspirational Leadership and the Importance of Leading from Purpose
https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/108237/what-inspiring-leaders-do-that-the-rest-of-us-can-copy
Interview with Judy Hoberman, Host of Selling in a Skirt – Being Engaged at Work and Why It’s Important to Business Results
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/209-Selling-In-A-Skirt-27264195/episode/being-engaged-28581685/
Interview with Silke Schwarzkopf, Executive Producer / 2nd Act TV on You Tube, Living a Fulfilled Life, Finding Passion and Meaning in Life after 50
http://bit.ly/2mFn5Jc or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv21qz2XLTQ&t=41s
Interview with Silke Schwarzkopf, Executive Producer / 2nd Act TV on You Tube, Finding Passion and Meaning in Life After Going Through Divorce
http://bit.ly/2lz1zpd or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOfWNNugVHg&t=84s
Interview with Silke Schwarzkopf, Executive producer / 2nd Act TV on You Tube, Following Your Dreams After 50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5saYyX7jMeE&t=73s
Kimberly Davis, Founder of OnStage Leadership and Author of Brave Leadership, wrote this blog about Alise’s leadership: A friend blogged about my leadership: https://onstageleadership.com/blog/2015/11/23/thankful-for-leaders-of-leaders/
Kimberly Davis, Founder of OnStage Leadership and Author of Brave Leadership, wrote this blog about Alise’s view on value and recognition to engage employees: https://onstageleadership.com/blog/2014/06/05/do-they-know/
Interview with Irma Vargas, Be Brilliant – Enjoy the Journey with Alise Cortez (Strengths-Based Leadership): http://www.rhgtvnetwork.com/media/311964
Interview with Joy Schwartz, Exploring Life and Career Transitions http://www.oneideaaway.com/tcv010-exploring-life-and-career-transitions-with-alise-cortez/
Interview with Stephanie and Anna Scheller, Sales and Talent Recruitment https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/black-belt-selling/e/50428446?autoplay=true
Interview with John Sumser of the HR Examiner, Finding Meaning in Work https://www.hrexaminer.com/hrx-big-ideas-radio-episode-2-finding-meaning-in-work-with-alise-cortez-phd/
Interview with Chris Dyer of TalentTalk, Mobilizing Talent to Catapult Performance, Alise being interviewed about Working on Purpose: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/209-TalentTalk-27264179/episode/alise-cortez-and-edgar-papke-27505846/
Interview with Sarah Webb of Plaid for Women, Engagement and Purpose at Work https://podfanatic.com/podcast/plaid-radio-by-plaid-for-women/episode/plaid-radio-episode-6-dr-alise-cortez
Women’s Leadership Conference with Alise Cortez speaking on Women Taking Charge of Their Lives (no audio): http://www.cornerstoneleague.coop/wlc_cortez.html
Book citation in Joyce Lain Kennedy’s Cover Letter for Dummies
Interview with Jean Oursler, Get More Results https://b2btv.tv/get-more-result-tv-with-jean-oursler-and-guest-alise-cortez-s2e4/