We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason Allen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jason thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the best advice you ever gave to a client? How did they benefit / what was the result? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

In the non profit space, the number one client of Lillie’s Foundation are grandparents and seniors raising school aged children. We provide a blog, On the Porch, which is found on our website. Our blog provides tips, information and resources on end of life care as well as life planning. This is critically important for our customer base. It’s important for grandparents and seniors of any age. It’s also a support for generational households and families that have aging grandparents and seniors within their family.

Our current series is inspired by business owner, Darryl Allen and his experiences with helping families with end of life celebrations and storytelling of a loved one who passes away.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am Jason B. Allen, 19 year veteran educator and Lead Storyteller/CEO of educational entitites, llc. I am also the Executive Director of Lillie’s Foundation which serves grandparents and seniors raising school aged children. Through LF4C, I am able to assist our program directors with providing free workshops, academic programs, services and resources tailored to grandparents and seniors.

Throughout my tenure in education I have taught Special Education, Reading and ELA, been a school leader, district administrator, charter school board chair and founding teacher of a charter school, 7 Pillars Career Academy which is also the first and only non suspension schools. While there’s a lot of talk about equity, I’ve been a grassroots organizer and educator through the tenure of my career with proven results.

Additionally, coming from a family or educators and storytellers, I am also sharing the stories of the students, parents, families and communities I serve. Helping others find their voice and stand up for what is right.

The programming and workshops we provide are built on family and community engagement standards and are beneficial to all parents, families and organizations working with or on behalf of them.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A lot of the work I do with Lillie’s Foundation as the Executive Director is hands on, in person. When the pandemic hit, we had to be creative about how we reached grandparents and seniors, especially those who are raising school aged children. As this was unknown to us at the time, we had to help ensure grandparents and seniors had the basic essentials needed to help a) keep their homes clean, b) ensure proper air flow and distance was used, c) integrating technology in the homes for those who weren’t using advanced tech.

Like most businesses, schools and non profits we had to shift gears in our production and the ways in which we provided services. Many of our programs moved to being online. We applied the same standards and level of engagement that was being provided in schools. I was still teaching at the time and were able to come up with creative ways of helping grandparents and seniors navigate technology while infusing old school methods of care, communication and collaborative activities for them to do at home with their grands.

Additionally, we provided drive thru services for many of our in person programs providing school supplies, technology resources, food and clothing resources, etc. where we simply packed the trucks of our grandparents and seniors cars with what they needed. We were also able to do in person demonstrations on cleaning surfaces used in common areas including technology devices.

Now, we have a good blend of virtual programming we provide along with our in person events. We’re continuing to find creative ways to use technology to meet our customer base where they are.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Over the last 8 years I’ve had to raise money to keep our foundation going in order for us to provide the needed support and services to grandparents and seniors raising school aged children.

Data reflects that this population of families raising school aged children are often underserved and overlooked. In fact, teachers at times don’t focus on student being raised by grandparents and seniors early on in school settings because they most likely don’t display behavioral issues. Grandparents in elementary schools are strong advocates because they are trying to get the services and support needed for their grandchildren. By the time they get to middle school, if they don’t get the resources and support their grands are often left behind facing undesirable outcomes in school.

Knowing this, many people say to me we have a worthy cause and should have no problem with receiving donations. Unfortunately the cause is very worthy but it is extremely hard raising money as a small non profit. Especially in a big city like Atlanta where people with funding and means tend to donate to popular, larger organizations.

I created an annual event, a Masquerade Ball for people to party for a purpose while supporting a needed cause. The event is called the Allenween Masquerade Ball in held October. People can purchase tickets on our website LilliesFoundation.org or donate.

Contact Info:

• Website: LilliesFoundation.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilliesf4c/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LilliesFoundation
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-b-allen-94048665/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LilliesCARES
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaz3WoA3Hh_86-EqTnqHXEg