Dr. Judith Allen is the Chief Operating Officer of Communities In Schools (CIS) of Chicago. In her role as COO, she leads all talent development and systems management processes for the organization’s growing team, which in 2019-20 will help 75,000 students Chicago Public School students succeed inside and outside the classroom.

Judith was formerly President and CEO of CIS Dallas Texas (a sister CIS affiliate to Chicago), where she spent 14 years growing the organization to individually serve 7,000 children. Judith was born in the Chicagoland area, a product of the DCFS foster care
system. She went on to spend 15 years in New York City, beginning her career with the NYPD, leading mental hygiene units with MICA (mentally ill chemically addicted) adults & active criminal offenses/warrants. She later shifted her work “upriver” to be more proactive, by working in child protection/reunification service units in Brooklyn and NYC.

Judith holds a doctorate in psychology from New York University, with extensive background and practice in clinical risk factors in child development, crisis de- escalation and serving high risk, volatile environments with children and families. In addition to consulting and private practice, Dr Allen has presented TED talks on Youth Resiliency, and provides community and corporate education trainings in Mental Health First Aid, Unconscious Bias, CPR/BLS/Triage, intrapersonal skill development, as well as mid management supervision and coaching. Her volunteer work includes annual sabbaticals supporting high poverty areas in Appalachian Kentucky, Brownsville (Brooklyn) NY and Haiti. The single mother of one, her son is a 4th year Naval Cadet at Texas A&M University.