{"id":96802,"date":"2026-08-29T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T10:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=96802"},"modified":"2026-08-26T19:49:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:49:49","slug":"on-a-personal-note-ashley-allen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/on-a-personal-note-ashley-allen\/","title":{"rendered":"On a Personal Note:<\/strong> Ashley Allen"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Ashley Allen, literacy is less about books, and more about people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lives I\u2019ll never live and perspectives I\u2019ll never have,\u201d Allen says. \u201cBut through literature, I can step into someone else\u2019s story and better understand their experiences, hopes, fears and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ashley Allen<\/p><\/div>\n

As co-executive director of Read to Succeed Asheville\/Buncombe, Allen leads an organization that works to close race-based opportunity gaps through community-powered literacy programs that connect children, families, volunteers and community partners. Her work recently earned statewide recognition when she was named one of four 2026 MLS All-Star Hometown Heroes, an honor recognizing nonprofit leaders across the Carolinas who are making a lasting impact in their communities. Her first reaction to hearing about the award was disbelief.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get so used to doing this work, keeping your head down, relying on the volunteers and partners around you that when you look up and realize you\u2019ve had an audience\u2014that anyone more than your small circle has taken note of the impact being made\u2014it\u2019s a bit of a shock,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Allen spent 10 years teaching in public schools before moving into non-profit literacy work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat convinced me was seeing, firsthand, how capable and brilliant my students were, and how deeply invested their families were in their success,\u201d Allen says. \u201cI realized the problem wasn\u2019t the students, it was the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recognizing the problem also helped her to clearly identify the solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I thought about the organizations, resource centers and elders who truly see and honor Black and Brown students that inequitable systems too often underestimate, it wasn\u2019t hard to see that community was the solution,\u201d Allen says. \u201cCommunity-based literacy programs simply create the space for that brilliance to be recognized, nurtured and celebrated. I want Black and Brown children to see that excellence doesn\u2019t require perfection. They don\u2019t have to be beyond reproach to be worthy of opportunity or celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jess McLean, co-executive director with Allen at Read to Succeed, says Allen\u2019s influence extends far beyond students.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has a magical way of equipping adults\u2014staff, tutors, parents\u2014with the tools that make us all better at supporting students,\u201d McLean says. \u201cAshley is genuinely the greatest advocate for children that you will meet. She deserves this incredible recognition for all the ways she shows up to support students and move the needle on literacy in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the office, Allen\u2019s interests surprise many people. She describes herself as \u201ca serial hobby collector,\u201d with interests ranging from rollerblading and the tabletop role-play game Dungeons & Dragons to miniature house kits and wine tasting. She\u2019s also passionate about reptiles, and secured a classroom grant for a pet snake that now lives at Read to Succeed\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever there\u2019s something new to try, I\u2019m probably going to try it,\u201d Allen says.<\/p>\n

Despite the recognition she has received, Allen measures success less by awards than by connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of brilliant kids and a lot of caring adults in our community,\u201d Allen says. \u201cSuccess looks like connecting them to one another so that they can all learn and grow together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more at R2SAsheville.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere are lives I\u2019ll never live and perspectives I\u2019ll never have,\u201d says Ashley Allen. \u201cBut through literature, I can step into someone else\u2019s story and better understand their experiences, hopes, fears and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":96804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\nOn a Personal Note: Ashley Allen - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cThere are lives I\u2019ll never live and perspectives I\u2019ll never have,\u201d says Ashley Allen. \u201cBut through literature, I can step into someone else\u2019s story and better understand their experiences, hopes, fears and humanity.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/on-a-personal-note-ashley-allen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On a Personal Note: Ashley Allen - 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