A bright and curious child who was “always into something,” Richmond native Alexis Allen always loved learning.
When she reached high school, however, she started noticing that not all students have access to the same educational opportunities. “My school didn’t have a lot of money or resources for its students,” she said. “That’s kind of where I first began to understand education inequities and how that looks in the real world.”
As a University of Virginia student, Allen has dedicated her time and energy to changing that reality.
Next month, she will graduate with her bachelor’s degree in youth and social innovation from UVA’s School of Education and Human Development – having left her mark on the University and Charlottesville communities through her extensive mentoring work and her deep passion for education equity.
As a high school senior, Allen applied to UVA among a handful of Virginia schools. But she didn’t realize what the state university down the road had to offer until a friend convinced her to consider UVA as a top choice. Visits to Grounds for Black Alumni Weekend and Spring Fling, an event for newly admitted students of color, solidified her decision to attend. “Seeing the camaraderie within the Black alumni [community], and also within the students at UVA, made it feel like home,” she said.
After arriving on Grounds, Allen soon found her academic home in the youth and social innovation major. As part of an introductory course, Allen mentored a young girl through a national program called College Mentors for Kids. She was hooked.
Alexis is one of my brightest students, and I am super proud of her. Her brightness is rooted not only in her intelligence and dedication to her work – it is also rooted in her authenticity. Authenticity is a rare quality we see at the University and it works like a superpower for Alexis.
- Chauncey Smith, Assistant Professor of Education
“My mentee – it took her a while to warm up to me, but once she did, we had such a great time,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is what I want to do. I want to work with youth.’”
Mentorship became a defining element of her time at UVA. Among other involvements, Allen has mentored middle school students through the Young Women Leaders Program and served as president of My Sister’s Keeper, a student organization that supports high school girls of color in Charlottesville through peer mentorship and college preparation.
For her capstone project, Allen expanded on these experiences by working with the Youth Action Lab, a program of Youth-Nex (the UVA Center to Promote Effective Youth Development) and the UVA Equity Center that partners with local teachers, schools and youth-serving organizations to train and support youth, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, in using research to address social problems.
“Alexis has proven herself a thoughtful and engaged student,” said Melissa Levy, program director for the youth and social innovation major. “She employs a powerful lens, wisdom and an outstanding work ethic. Outside of the classroom, she is an extraordinary student leader and advocate.”
Allen’s passion for mentorship is partly driven by personal experience. When she was in fifth grade, her mother, who had been her primary caregiver, was incarcerated. Allen unexpectedly had to move to a new neighborhood, live with her father, and adjust to middle school all at once.
“That changed a lot for me – losing my primary caregiver, someone I looked up to,” she said. “There was a really big shift in my personality. I became more reserved, and I wasn’t as active or as social as I used to be.
