Allison Bucklew

About Allison Bucklew

I help education and nonprofit teams turn complex ideas into decision-ready presentations for funding, board, and executive approvals.Learning & Development leader with 10+ years designing, managing, and scaling large-scale initiatives in education and nonprofit contexts. My work regularly supports high-stakes decision-making, including multi-year, multi-million-dollar grant initiatives that require clear narratives, disciplined structure, and alignment across stakeholders.At UnboundEd, I lead content design and program execution for nationally scaled professional learning efforts, managing cross-functional teams and supporting 50+ contract facilitators while maintaining 90%+ participant satisfaction and 95%+ reported impact. This work includes translating complex program strategy, data, and outcomes into materials used for leadership review, funder communication, and internal alignment. This work spans mathematics, literacy, science, and career and technical education, with a focus on helping educators leverage student strengths and close opportunity gaps.Previously, at Crossroads Charter Schools, I supported system-level initiatives across multiple sites serving learners, working closely with senior leaders to structure information for operational and strategic decisions.Core strengths include-Structuring content for executive, board, and funder audiences-Translating complex programs into clear narratives and recommendations-Managing cross-functional work tied to long-term, grant-funded initiatives-Stakeholder alignment, prioritization, and decision supportMy focus is not visual polish alone, but clarity that reduces risk, shortens decision cycles, and helps teams move forward with confidence.

Experience

1. Director of Content Design

   UnboundEd

   Oct 2023 — Present · US

   Leading professional learning design, federal grant implementation, and thought leadership for national education org focused on access to grade-level instruction.Federal Grant Leadership-Lead $4M U.S. DOE grant focused on culturally responsive literacy instruction for diverse English speakers across 46 schools, students, and 550+ teachers over 5 years-Partner with American Institutes for Research to co-design survey instruments, review data collection protocols, and track teacher knowledge gains, implementation fidelity, and student literacy outcomes-Manage 7 direct reports (content design team, facilitators, research consultant) across geographically distributed sites-Design 24 hours of structured literacy professional learning modules, overseeing research integration, development, piloting, and facilitator readinessPortfolio-Wide Professional Learning Design-Design and facilitate professional learning programs serving K-12 educators across mathematics, literacy, science, career and technical education, world languages, and electives-Provide actionable protocols to leverage student funds of knowledge and scaffold for grade-level learning, ensuring all students access engaging content that affirms their identities-Train and develop 50+ facilitators to deliver programs at scale, achieving 90%+ participant satisfaction, 95%+ reported impact on practice, and Net Promoter Score above 60-Design formative assessment module with data protocols enabling teachers to analyze student work and adjust instruction immediately-Execute webinar strategy averaging 100 participants per session, generating 10-40 qualified sales leads per eventThought Leadership-Keynote speaker at regional conferences including Chicago Local Standards Institute (200+ participants)-Author blog posts on literacy instruction, asset-based feedback, and equity-centered planning published on UnboundEd.org-Lead facilitator for UnboundEd Standards Institute (60 participants annually)

Education

• University of Missouri-Kansas City

  Master's degree, Education Administration

  2017 — 2020

• Northwest Missouri State University

  Master's degree, Educational Leadership and Administration, General

  2018 — 2019

• Drake University

  B.S., Environmental Science

  2004 — 2008

Skills

• Curriculum Development
• Environmental Policy
• Classroom Management
• Environmental Awareness
• Teaching
• Curriculum Design
• Community Outreach
• Environmental Science
• Public Speaking
• Staff Development
• Elementary Education