UNC Greensboro|Directory|Ashley Allen

Ashley Allen

Ashley Allen

Work Environment & Compensation Coordinator

Human Development and Family Studies

Email Address: amkeel@uncg.edu

Phone: 336.334.3139

Bio & Education

Ashley is the Work Environment & Compensation Coordinator with EQuIPD (Education, Quality Improvement, & Professional Development), within the Human Development & Family Studies department.

Ashley serves on multiple committees and workgroups, all focused on improving the working conditions for early childhood educators at the local, state, and national level. She serves as a consultant on various projects and has been an integral part of the creation and dissemination of some of North Carolina’s most influential resources for early educators, stakeholders, and policy makers. Additionally, Ashley serves as adjunct faculty here at UNCG as well as Stanly Community College and Greensboro College.

  • B.S. English & Human Development & Family Studies; BK Licensure
  • MEd BK Interdisciplinary Studies: Leadership & Administration
  • PhD Educational Leadership & Cultural Foundations (ABD)

Leadership & Collaboration

  • Understanding Early Care Workgroup (2024 – current) Ensure early educators voices and work environment contexts inform local policies to improve access, affordability, and early childhood work environments in Guilford County
  • ITTI Care Workforce Standards Advisory Group (2024 – 2025) Inform recommendations to the Division of Child Development & Early Education promoting healthy work environment standards in early childhood programs
  • North Carolina Institute for Child Development Professionals Executive Board Member & Co-chair of the compensation committee (2022 – current) Serve as assistant treasurer and co-chair of committees; member of project leadership team to design and develop the North Carolina Model Salary Scale Toolkit (content development & lead web design)
  • National Early Care and Education Workforce Community of Practice member: Salary Scales. (2023). Participate in national conversations aiming to design and or revise salary scales for early educators and work towards implementation.
  • North Carolina State Legislature Grant Recipient, Collaboration with Ready for School, Ready for Life (2022 – 2023) Design, facilitate and disseminate findings from the Model Work Standards Pilot Project in Guilford County, North Carolina.
  • North Carolina Early Education Coalition Family Child Care Advisory Council Member (2021 – 2022) Participate and give feedback to the NCEEC and Division of Child Development and Early Education to inform how federal and state funds would be best spent to support Family Child Care Homes as a unique business and provider of care.
  • North Carolina Technical Assistance/NC Impact Committee Member (2021 – 2022) Facilitated by the Division of Child Development and Early Education Participate in the creation
  • of a comprehensive early childhood technical assistance framework for North Carolina.
  • Guilford County Racial Equity Professional Learning Community Member (2020 – current) Identify, discuss, and participate in equity driven learning opportunities for early childhood support professionals in Guilford County. Ready for School, Ready for Life, Communications Committee Member (2020 – current)
  • Inform and guide decision making processes for early childhood policies at local and state levels with other board members from Ready for School, Ready for Life.
  • Community graduate committee representative for candidates in the UNCG BKISED MEd program (2018; 2020) Support potential candidates in the oral defense process.
  • Guilford County Grant Recipient, Think Babies. (2018) Research coordinator and facilitator for advocacy work funded through North Carolina Early Childhood Coalition, Pritzker Children’s Initiative, and ZERO TO THREE.
  • Guilford County Early Childhood Workforce Compensation Design Team (2017) Research coordinator and project leader for a community level/action based research strategic planning process (framed by the ABLe Change process, University of Michigan), grant funded by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation & Guilford County Partnership for Children. Co-author and graphic designer of the resulting strategic plan.
  • Worthy Wage Day Organizer (2016) Recruited and managed early childhood leaders across the state to organize Worthy Wage Day events while earning the larger support of four Smart Start Partnerships for sponsorship.
  • Ready for School, Ready for Life 100-day Challenge Team Leader (2015) Led a team of individuals across diverse agencies and roles to collect data at a grassroots level to better understand gaps in Guilford County’s early childhood system.

Selected Media & Presentations

Allen, A., & Riggins, R Jr. (2025). Exploring growth mindsets across time and space. Verner Center for Early Learning. Asheville, NC. Professional Development Retreat.

Allen, A., Daniels, B., Geer, A., Riggins Jr., R., & Rodas, R. (2025). Leadership Greensboro panelist. Foundations for success: The role of early education in lifelong learning.

Allen, A. Guilford county administrators PLC. (2024). Retreat footage.

Allen, A., Snuggs, K., Mercer-McClean, A., Daniels, S., & Pullis, L. (2024). Statewide Professional Development Symposium. NC-AEYC conference.

Allen, A. (2024). The workforce that supports the workforce: Ashley Allen on early childhood development. Podcast. Spotify.

Allen, A. & Speer-Smith, E. (2024). Explore North Carolina’s Model Salary Scale Toolkit: Taking Strides Towards Implementing Salary Scales in North Carolina. Child Care Resource and Referral Conference. 2024; T.E.A.C.H. National Symposium, 2024; Smart Start National Conference, 2024.

Allen, A. & Snuggs, K. (2024). Developing wage & salary scales: National Early Care and Education Workforce Center. Salary Scale COP.

Allen, A. (2023). Hunt Institute Policy Fellows. North Carolina’s Early Childhood Workforce. Panelist.

Allen, A. (2023). North Carolina’s Model Salary Scale Toolkit Introductory Webinar.

Allen, A., & Riggins Jr., R. (2023). The power of feedback for infants and toddlers: Making the most of interactions. Guilford Early Learning Collaborative. Conference session.

Allen, A., Staton, L., & Colter, C. (2022). Gate City Insider: Week of the Young Child.

Allen, A., & Lawrence, N. (2022). Co-facilitator for Preschool Development Block Grant update; white paper. Focus groups/data collection.

Allen, A., Basloe, M., Cubbage, A., & Snuggs, K. (2021). North Carolina’s Model Salary Scale for Early Education Teachers. Webinar presentation.

Allen, A., McLean, C., Williams, A., Skidmore, B., & Sullivan, P. (July, 2021). Reimagining and building a system beyond QRIS: Center for the Study of the Child Care Workforce. BUILD National Conference, Preconference 2021. Reinvent Early Care & Education Quality Improvement to Advance Racial Equity.

Allen, A. (April, 2021). Getting down to business: How your policies and practices impact overall well-being. Guilford Early Learning Collaborative, Spring Conference Presenter. Greensboro, NC.

Allen, A. (November, 2020). Introduction to the Model Work Standards and Decision-Making Processes. Webinar Funded by the Center for the Study of Social Policy & Ready for School, Ready for Life. Webinar presentation.

Burch, A., Brooks, C., & Allen, A. (May 2020). Advancing Early Childhood Workforce Policies in North Carolina. 2020 National Smart Start Conference. Greensboro, NC.

Allen, A. (December 2019). Model Work Standards: What is the climate like in YOUR work? Center for the Study of Social Policy, Ready for School, Ready for Life, and Education, Quality Improvement, & Professional Development. Greensboro, NC.

Allen, A. (November 19, 2019). Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. Guest blogger. The Return of the Model Work Standards.

Allen, A. (June 5, 2019). Supporting teachers’ voices to shift public perception: reflections and implications for systems change. National Association for the Education of Young Children, Professional Learning Institute. Long Beach, California.

Allen, A. (March, 2019). Choosing growth over gossip: Leading by example. Guilford Early Learning Collaborative Conference, Greensboro, NC.

Allen, A. (July, 2018). Mythbusters: The myth of the super director – Busted! Pre-service professional development for administrators of Head Start Programs, Greensboro, NC. Bailey, H., McCaskill, N., Riggins Jr., R., Allen, A. (September, 2017). From the head and heart: An experiential journey of art, values, and reflection. North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children, Raleigh, NC.

Allen, A. (May, 2016). Why can’t all children in Guilford County access high-quality, affordable childcare? Addressing the gaps in our county’s early childhood system. Ready for School Ready for Life Symposium, Greensboro, NC.

Cassidy, D., Russell, S., & Allen, A. (April, 2016). Building Strong Program Leaders Through Higher Education Opportunities. T.E.A.C.H. National Symposium, Chapel Hill.

Cassidy, D., Bannister, T., Lower, J., Allen, A., McCaskill, N., & Riggins Jr., R., (June, 2015). EQuIPD: Education, Quality Improvement, & Professional Development: an integrated approach to sustaining high-quality early care and education.” National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Professional Development Institute, New Orleans, LA.