Meet Alana V.

Alana V. Allen is a dynamic nonprofit leader and community activist. She is the founder and executive director of I Am A Queen, a youth development nonprofit based in Greensboro, N.C. She is also a nonprofit business consultant for Alana Knows Nonprofits Consulting, LLC and advocates for HIV, human trafficking and sexual assault awareness through Project No More SHAME.

 

Allen is a native of Reidsville, N.C. and a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University with a degree in journalism and mass communications. For 17 years, she has worked relentlessly as a public relations professional and within the span of her career, she served for three years as deputy press secretary for the first female Governor of North Carolina, Beverly E. Perdue. 

 

Allen’s community involvement all began in 2009, when she started I Am A Queen out of a prayer of forgiveness. She had held a secret for 18 years of being molested as a child at the age of six; a secret that kept her bound and defeated spiritually. Through this prayer, God set her free with a call to empower girls and women to be Queens and more than enough. For 14 years, she has developed a thriving year-round mentoring program for girls ages 10-18 that focuses on building their self-esteem and leadership skills. In addition, the nonprofit encourages girls and others to give back to their community through various charitable deeds.

 

Since I Am A Queen’s establishment in the Greensboro-High Point area, it has impacted the lives of over 17,000 people in North Carolina through mentoring and its annual community outreach events. 

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Key Highlights of Alana V. Allen’s Career:

• 2023 Triad Business Journal's 40 Leaders Under 40

• 2022 Leadership Service Medal – Leadership Greensboro​

• 2022 Forty Under Forty Influential African Americans in the Triad - Black Business Ink

• 2022 News and Record Women in Leadership - Nonprofit Excellence

• 2020 Graduate of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits - Nonprofit Management Institute 

• 2017 Recipient of the AC Stowe Lifetime Achievement Award presented by McDonald's Rhythms of Triumph 

• Served three years as deputy press secretary for the first female Governor of North Carolina, Beverly E. Perdue