Danielle Allen, PhD, is a project director for the Equity Research Action Coalition at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG). Her research interests include the role of Black faith communities in advocating for and providing high quality educational opportunities for students and families as well state-level efforts to address equity within education. Allen is also a qualitative researcher at the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina (EPIC) within the Department of Public Policy at UNC.

As part of our FPG profile series, we recently spoke with her to learn more about her work at the Institute. Here’s what Allen had to say.

Tell us a bit about your professional journey―and what brought you to FPG?

After teaching high school English for six years in Atlanta (two of those years as a Teach for America corps member), I returned to UNC to better understand education policies that were impacting (and inhibiting) the work I was able to do as a classroom teacher. I finished my PhD in Education: Policy, Leadership, and School Improvement in 2017 and eventually took a position at the Department of Public Instruction. After about a year and a half, a mentor recruited me for a role supporting the State Board of Education and conducting education research and evaluation at the EPIC. Eventually I transitioned from a research associate at EPIC to a research assistant professor, which allowed me to dedicate a significant portion of my time to work with the Equity Research Action Coalition (the Coalition).

What do you do at FPG—describe your job, walk us through a typical day, and tell us about the projects you're currently working on.

I’m a project director with the Coalition, where I lead two projects―one on African-centered teaching in early learning environments, and another on cultivating healthy racial identities in young children through a national home visiting model, and I’m also leading the qualitative design for Brian Boyd’s and Iheoma Iruka’s new R01 grant, Project REACH. What I love about my work at FPG is that the projects are in various stages, so every day looks different. For example, right now we’re writing a practice guide of African-centered teaching practices in early learning environments, facilitating a learning community on healthy racial identities, building and refining a qualitative research plan to understand the experiences of Black caregivers of autistic children, and finalizing grant proposals to continue our work. It’s a busy time and I love it.

What do you like most about your job?

The people, hands down. The team that Dr. Iruka has brought together at the Coalition is amazing and the culture that she’s established is unmatched. Dr. Iruka is an invaluable mentor who wants nothing more than to see everyone at the Coalition succeed, and the same goes for Dr. Boyd. They encourage me to believe in myself and my potential as a qualitative scholar, which means the world to me as a Black woman in academia. I also can’t understate how much I appreciate that Dr. Boyd and Dr. Iruka are unapologetic about their commitment to research on improving outcomes for Black children and families.

What do you find most challenging?

There’s so much work to be done on behalf of Black children and families, and so much our team wants to investigate, sometimes we have to acknowledge that we can’t do it all―at least right now. I’m thankful for guidance from program officers, funders, etc. on how we can trim and modify our proposals and save some of the other questions for future work.

How does your work further the mission of FPG?

All of our work is focused on improving the experiences, opportunities, and outcomes of our youngest learners.

What do you hope to have accomplished five years from now?

I look forward to establishing an independent body of research around the role of Black faith communities in providing educational opportunities for Black children, families, and communities.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about your work/working at FPG?

I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the work of such a mission-driven organization, and to work with such an awesome team. I’m honored to work with Dr. Nathan Jorgensen and Mr. TK Musa, and I can’t thank Dr. Sharron Hunter-Rainey and Mia Pungello enough for their tireless efforts on the Coalition’s behalf.