Who Is Karen D. Allen?

EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE

  • Coached and participated in mentorship programs for beginning teachers;

  • Created and delivered community presentations to teach about trauma, behavior, restorative practices, and more;

  • Provided leadership for World Languages Department;

  • Coordinated, designed and accompanied high school French class students to France for 3 consecutive years

  • Designed curriculum for Health Education program

  • Delivering professional learning to audiences including teachers; administrators; counselors; support staff; agency partners; and other community organizations.

  • Mentoring youth with autism and other developmental challenges

    WORK EXPERIENCE

  • National Education Director, Brighten Learning

  • Professional Development Content Creator and Facilitator, Brighten Learning

  • Coordinator for Homeless and Foster Youth Services, Marin County Office of Education

  • Principal: Marin’s Community School (7th-12th grade), Marin County Office of Education

  • Principal: Madrone Continuation High School, San Rafael

  • English Teacher: San Francisco County School, San Francisco

  • French Teacher: Lowell; Balboa; Thurgood Marshall High Schools, San Francisco

Who Is Kathleen Dwyer?

DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

Recently retired after thirty years of creatively teaching English and connecting to students, Kathleen remains passionate about navigating channels which align with the world of education. Her strong foundation of teaching was birthed through Hartwick College and nurtured by her Master’s Degree in Literature at SUNY Oneonta. Her professional journey was further cultivated in her teaching English to grades 7-12 and at college level, and Kathleen spent the majority of her career in New York’s award-winning Clarkstown South High School, wherein she taught a variety of English courses and electives to multiple levels of students, including the alternative education population. Her body of work within her districts, as well as with the non-profit organization 16 Strong, focuses on helping students to recognize, mitigate, and maintain resilience through traumatic experiences in connection to all subject areas. Even though she is retired from classroom teaching, Kathleen continues to thrive on the opportunity to affect and inform positive changes in students and faculty alike.