Allen Lee
National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Atlanta, GA USA
"Never compare your insides to other people’s outsides."
Career Roadmap
Allen's work combines: Education, Non-Profit Organizations, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Teaching, while not always enjoyable, is one of the clearest ways to live with integrity. It is also very difficult to manage as a long-term lifestyle. You must create and manage a network that will allow for for future options. It took nearly a year, but I was able to leverage all that I have done in my current position.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Political Science and Government, General
Davidson College
Graduate Degree
Secondary Education and Teaching
Georgia State University
Certification
History Teacher Education
Certification
Behavioral Sciences
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
Grew up in Conway, South Carolina, amidst a lot of racial tension within his community—says this sparked his early interest in social justice and youth engagement.
2.
After graduating from Davidson College with his degree in political science, he spent a year working a lot of different jobs on campus...including polishing the trophy case!
3.
He got a job as a temporary student teacher through a program that sought to get minorities interested in teaching private school.
4.
Discovered how much he loved teaching, but struggled with limited opportunities because he was a minority candidate without a teaching degree.
5.
The school eventually offered to combine two part-time positions teaching Spanish and art into one full-time job for him—says, “You have to be open to opportunities. Why not?!”
6.
Moved to Atlanta where he applied to Teach for America—he ended up teaching in public schools for over 10 years.
7.
Attended Georgia State University as a graduate student and received his master’s degree in teaching.
8.
Was a volunteer at the Center for Civil and Human Rights before he was hired full time—encourages people to get involved in as many different ways as they can.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
Why would you want to be a teacher, I thought you were really going to do something big.
How I responded:
Teaching, while not always enjoyable, is one of the clearest ways to live with integrity. It is also very difficult to manage as a long-term lifestyle. You must create and manage a network that will allow for for future options. It took nearly a year, but I was able to leverage all that I have done in my current position.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I grew up amongst racial tensions in my community as a child and later on encountered discrimination when trying to become a teacher. You have to learn to navigate through the opportunities available to you and make your own way.
I was always worried that what I was doing wasn't living up to my family's legacy and sacrifice and that I should be doing more. You have to be happy with where you are, but always be open to new opportunities.
I slacked off a bit early on and let my GPA slip. You have to stay focused and use the resources available to you to succeed.