Cicely Allen has been cultivated in grass-root community-based movements dedicated to the liberation of African American people. Growing up at Operation Get Down/Alkebu-lan-Village she learned how a bold vision, self-determination, and collective voice could foster transformative change. After working as an award-winning top producer in the insurance industry for over 10 years, she answered the call to return to community work, leading service projects focused on youth development and Black maternal health programming and advocacy.

As a result of her deep commitment to racial equity, she was selected to serve as a Racial Equity Fellow with the Detroit Equity Action Lab, a program of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at the Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. Cicely currently serves as Co-Executive Director at the Wisdom Institute, a grassroots woman and girlhood focused organization in Detroit whose mission is to lift the determination of women and girls to further advance the quality of their lives, livelihood and leadership under the rubric of healing justice. Cicely is a dedicated wife, mother of three amazing children, and a proud Detroiter!