A native of the southside of Chicago and a proud graduate of Chicago Public Schools, Dr. Lionel E. Allen, Jr. is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Co-Coordinator of the Urban Education Leadership Program where he teaches a signature pedagogy course on cycles of inquiry, a course on improving education organizations, and co-leads the full-year residency course for aspiring school leaders. Dr. Allen has over twenty years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and chief academic officer. Dr. Allen recently detailed his experience as the first turnaround principal in the state of Illinois in the book Fighting the Good Fight: Narratives of the African American Principalship (2022) in a chapter titled “How Should I Feel About That? Renaissance 2010 and School Reform in Chicago.” In 2018 he founded ed Leaders Matter (eLM), LLC, a consultancy that aims to improve schools by developing school leaders. Under the eLM umbrella, he has provided professional development and coaching to hundreds of school leaders and scores of schools and school districts nationwide. He is also the co-founder and design team member of the Aspire Fellowship, a program designed to diversify the principal pipeline by preparing teacher leaders of color to enter principal preparation and certification programs. Dr. Allen received his baccalaureate degree from Northwestern University and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He recently authored the book, "Lead with C.A.R.E.: Strategies for Building Culturally Competent and Affirming Schools."