Jennifer A. Allen

Jennifer Allen, director of district and school relations at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI), collaborates with schools, districts, and regional and state organizations, focusing on the introduction, implementation, and sustainability of the RULER approach to social and emotional learning. Jennifer holds a doctorate in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her doctoral research focused on accomplished novice urban teachers and the factors that influence their decisions to stay or leave their classrooms. Since then, her inquiry has expanded to include the study of strategies to better understand and support teacher well-being. She earned her B.A. and M.A.T. from the University of Vermont and a Certificate of Advance Study in administration and supervision at Southern Connecticut State University.

As a public school educator, Dr. Allen has worked in both suburban and urban settings, serving as a high school English teacher, assistant principal, principal, and central office senior cabinet member, including chief talent officer, director of secondary schools, and executive director of professional learning. While completing her work at Columbia, she served as director of education and director of secondary school redesign at two prominent national organizations whose work focuses on social and emotional learning, consulting with public and independent schools across the country and internationally and publishing a number of related articles.

At the center of Jennifer’s extensive work in schools--public, private, suburban, and urban--has always been the understanding that school climate and culture have a fundamental and inextricable impact on student achievement and educator well-being.