In outlining the basis of Alison's operation, he explained to David Bornstein of the New York Times that 'education underpins all social progress. If we can improve the general education level worldwide, global poverty can be dealt with profoundly and a general standard of living can be vastly improved.' Feerick highlights the 'sustainable' manner of Alison's operating model as the unique and critical tenet behind the success of his venture to date. The Economist noted in 2013 that through this means, Alison generates 'plenty of revenue' on its website through the use of a freemium model with hosted banner advertising while still providing its learning materials of 'mostly vocational education' for free. "Ads propelled radio and TV, why not education? There is a lot of misplaced snobbery in education about advertising," says Feerick. The UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26, "Education shall be free" was a key motivator for Feerick in founding Alison. "Education is a human right and while those who wrote that Declaration in 1948 had no idea how idea it might be achieved, we today have the tools to make it happen, and knowing that, a responsibility to make it a reality." "Education is the tool of the most ambitious revolutionary in these technological times, you can change the world if you can change education." The ultimate end-goal, according to Feerick is to "build confidence in as many people as possible and to empower them to keep learning." Alison is suggested as a model that can be used by government worldwide to address the growing global Skills Gap. Alison became a noted global provider in the educational technology community receiving an Honourable Mention Award in information and communications technology at the UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize in Paris in 2010. Feerick's work has been recognised by Ashoka in 2010, and his Fellow status marks his global impact as Alison founder and influential social entrepreneur. On 8 September 2013, Alison was announced as one of six winners at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) awards, an initiative of the Qatar Foundation. Feerick noted that the win was a 'terrific achievement' for Alison. He suggested that 'there is a lot of hype about free learning worldwide but clearly the sustained strength, growth and popularity of Alison was what yielded recognition as a leader in future education. Feerick received the award from Her Highness Moza bint Nasser in Doha, Qatar, in October 2013. In 2012, Feerick received an Arthur Guinness Fund award for Social Entrepreneurship for the work undertaken with organising the Irish diaspora through the Ireland Reaching Out programme he founded in 2009.