Foundational
Alliance Essentials

Most professionals working in alliances and partnerships were never formally trained for it. They learn by trial and error, missing the shared vocabulary, governance frameworks, and trust-building skills that make partnerships actually work. 

Alliance Essentials changes that. In one focused day (or a few online sessions), you'll build the foundational capability that separates professionals who struggle from those who lead confidently, backed by the global authority in alliance management. 

The course equips you with a shared framework and vocabulary for alliance management success, a clear understanding of roles, decision rights, and governance, practical approaches to alignment, trust-building, and stakeholder engagement, and a 30-day action plan to put your learning to work immediately. 

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"Alliance Essentials gave me a clear framework and language I now use every day. It completely changed how I approach governance and partner engagement." 
— Alliance Manager, Global Technology Company

At a glance

  • Who it’s for: Professionals new to alliances or to the alliance management discipline; professionals seeking to reinforce or strengthen their alliance management capabilities  

  • Delivered by: ASAP
  • Level: Foundational
  • Formats: Live online, in-person
  • Duration: Multi-session live online format, one intensive day in-person
  • Cost: $999 (Member rate $799, a 20% discount) 
  • Professional development hours (PDHs): 6 

What you'll learn

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to: 

  • Articulate why organizations use alliances and how partnerships create measurable business value 

  • Navigate the full Alliance Life Cycle from formation through execution and evolution 

  • Clarify roles, responsibilities, and decision rights in complex, cross-company environments 

  • Engage stakeholders, communicate effectively, and drive alignment across organizational and cultural boundaries 

  • Build trust, manage ambiguity, and address the most common alliance challenges before they derail a partnership 

What to expect

Alliance Essentials is a high-impact, practitioner-led learning experience that builds real alliance capability — fast. The program cuts through theory to deliver the core frameworks, governance models, and management behaviors that drive successful partnerships across industries and roles. 

Live online sessions are available in one-day or multi-part formats, led by experienced instructors. In-person sessions are offered periodically at select ASAP events. 

“As someone new to alliance management, this course accelerated my learning curve immensely. Practical, credible, and immediately useful.”
- Business Development Leader, SaaS Company

Who it's for

This course is a good fit for professionals and teams who are: 

  • New to alliance or partner-facing roles and need a strong, credible foundation 

  • Managing existing partnerships and want to reinforce or sharpen their practice

  • Managing existing partnerships and want to strengthen their alliance management capabilities 

  • Supporting partnerships from functions like business development, legal, marketing, operations, product, or customer success 

  • Working across organizations where alignment, shared language, and clear governance are essential to getting things done 

Team training

Need to build a common foundation across your team, business unit, or partner ecosystem? Bring the foundational ASAP training to your organization — either onsite or virtually. Alliance Essentials can scale globally across regions and business units. 

Contact us

“This course helped our team align quickly and avoid the missteps we’d made in past partnerships. It’s the foundation every alliance role should start with.”
— Director of Partnerships, Life Sciences Organization

Alliance Essentials instructors

ASAP courses are led by senior practitioners who bring real-world experience across industries and partnership models.  

Faculty include former and current heads of alliances and senior alliance executives; leaders from technology life sciences, industrial, and services organizations; and ASAP-certified instructors with decades of hands-on alliance management experience. 

"Alliance Essentials reflects how alliances actually work in the real world. It was built by practitioners who have lived the complexity, not theorists observing from the sidelines."  — Alliance Manager, Global Technology Company

Europe

Annick De Swaef, CSAP, CA-AM

As the Managing Director and Transition Executive at Yocoto BV in Belgium, Annick excels at enhancing corporate collaborative capabilities and restoring focus and balance during times of organizational upheaval. She specializes in guiding companies through critical transitions, such as leadership changes, restructuring, and strategic pivots, all while ensuring that human values remain central to corporate decision-making. Before joining Yocoto, Annick served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Belgian Road Research Centre, as well as founder of Consensa Consulting.

Annick is a longstanding member of ASAP's Advisory Council and is a recipient of one of ASAP's highest honors, the Alliance Excellence Award for Outstanding Service and Achievement. She speaks Dutch, French and English.

Ruben Santos Garcia, CSAP, CA-AM

Based out of Switzerland, Ruben Santos Garcia serves as Senior Advisor to the Precision, Sex-based Medicine (PRiSM) initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he advises on strategy, partnerships, and ecosystem development to accelerate innovation in women's health. Previously, he served as Director of Global Alliance Management at Sobi, a global biopharma company based in Sweden, and Head of Scientific Affairs for Partnerships and Innovation Networks at the NOMIS Foundation in Switzerland. Ruben speaks Spanish, French, Italian and English.

United States

Christine Klatt, CSAP, CA-AM

Christine Klatt provides companies with guidance on how to make the most of their collaborations as the Principal of Carberry Consulting, while also teaching alliance management at Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, King's College London, and GDMP Academy. She was previously Chief Operating Officer at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, SVP for Program and Alliance Management at FORUM Pharmaceuticals, and VP for Program and Alliance Management at Biogen.

Christine is a prior member of ASAP's Board of Directors, having also served as Board Chair in 2019-2020. 

Lynda McDermott, CA-AM

Lynda McDermott is President of EquiPro International, Ltd., an international management consulting firm which specializes in leadership, team, and business development for Fortune 500, medium-size companies and professional services firms.  She is also an executive coach and alliance management consultant for organizations in strategic partnerships and joint ventures. Lynda is co-author of the best-selling book World Class Teams.

Ann Trampas, CSAP, CA-AM

Ann Trampas is a Professional Development Practice Lead for Phoenix Consulting and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). As Practice Lead, Ann develops and teaches courses on collaboration and relationship management, and helps organizations strengthen their strategic alliances. At UIC, she teaches Channels of Distribution and Ecommerce, Marketing, Sales Management and Business Strategy. She is also a faculty member of the American Management Association, where she facilitates a variety of business courses.

Ann is a member of the Technical Advisory Group for the ISO 44001 standard for Collaborative Business. She is a member of the ASAP Course Development, Instructor, and Handbook Working Groups. 

Ready to build your alliance foundation?
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