Erika Allen is the

co-founder An organizational founder is a person who has undertaken some or all of the formational work needed to create a new organization, whether it is a business, a charitable organization, a governing body, a school, a group of entertainers, or any oth ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Urban Growers Collective. In 2022, she won the 2022 James Beard Leadership Award.

Biography

Allen received her BA from the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

and from the

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

, a MA in art psychotherapy. From the same university, she received an Honorary Ph.D. in Public Health.

Career

From 2012 until 2017, Allen was Commissioner of

Chicago Park District The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, 10 boat docking harbors, two botanic conservat ...

. She serves on the Chicago Food Policy Action Council and on

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

's team for Agriculture.

Personal life

Will Allen, former professional basketball player and CEO of Growing Power, is her father.

References

External links

POWER PLAYER: URBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE'S ERIKA ALLEN IS DEDICATED TO COMMUNITY FOOD GARDENS
James Beard Foundation Award winners American women chief executives Living people Businesspeople from Chicago School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni University of Illinois Chicago alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-CEO-stub