Rick Allen

Often humorously referred to as “the godfather of early learning” in Pierce County, WA, Allen was also a leading advocate for the aggressive expansion of community-based non¬profit early childhood development programs statewide. He was frequently asked to testify on the subject before the Washington State Legislature. The successful early childhood community collaboration he was instrumental in helping establish in Pierce County remains active today, as do many of the early childhood efforts in other Washington State communities. Rick was named in 2001 one of the first Business Leaders of the Year in Pierce County, Washington, by the University of Washington Tacoma School of Business in association with the Business Examiner News Group. Allen was also recognized by the Washington Association for the Education of Young Children as one of the state’s outstanding community-based advocates for children. Allen worked in the nonprofit field as president and CEO of United Way of Pierce County, Washington, a community approaching one million, for more than twenty years. Before that he served eight years as director of the Pierce County Community Action Agency, working predominantly with families in distress, and two years as Manager of Housing Programs for the Washington State Department of Community Development. Allen was also part of the team that developed the curriculum for the Seattle University Master's in Nonprofit Leadership program. Rick holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Eastern Washington University, a master’s degree in interpersonal communication from Ohio University, and both a master’s and a doctorate in public administration from the University of Southern California. In addition to GREAT BY EIGHT, Allen wrote INSIDE PITCH, the "inside story" about the one-year-and-bankrupt 1969 Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers), from the perspective of the characters in suits and ties who ran the team.