School Board Recognition Month: Meet Board of Education member Kristin Allan

Kristin Allan
Director, District E

Kristin Allan’s service on the Cherry Creek School District Board of Education in 2021 follows several years of experience volunteering in CCSD schools and at district-level positions. A parent of two children in the district, Allan began volunteering in their classrooms when her oldest child was in kindergarten. Allan soon took on leadership roles in school and then district accountability organizations.

“The more involved I became, the more passionate I became about service to our school district,” Allan said, adding that her advocacy role for her own kids ended up expanding. “As I was going through this process, I started thinking about all of the other students. They need a voice.”

Allan grew up in New York, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and attended Brooklyn Law School. After relocating to Colorado in 2005, she worked in a firm before striking out on her own and starting her own practice about three years ago. Allan and her family specifically moved to a house in CCSD for the schools.

A practicing attorney and small business owner, Allan built up a long list of district-based roles before beginning as a board member. She’s a graduate of the Leadership Cherry Creek program, which offers participants a behind-the-scenes view of district operations, and her time as chair of the District Accountability Committee and High Plains Elementary School’s Accountability Committee offered the first steps that would ultimately lead to a position on the board. 

In her current role as Director of District E, Allan brings goals and priorities that align with CCSD’s Core Values: Growth Mindset, Equity, Whole Wellbeing, Engagement, and Relationships.

“Having consistent Core Values across the different schools and demographics is so important. I frame all of my Board of Education work around those values,” she said, adding that our Core Values clearly define how everyone will work together to achieve our vision and carry out our mission. “Our values are the beginning of the story, not the end. When we operationalize our Core Values, we work to achieve excellence. When we put our Core Values into action, we allow each student to find their pathway of purpose.” 

The commitment to real, effective and measurable action that first drove Allan to volunteer at her kids’ schools has persisted, and it’s now the mission she draws on to positively impact more than 53,000 students.