Allen served as the vice president, membership services for the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) from September 1991 through June 2002. CWLA is the oldest and largest voluntary organization of over 1,200 public and voluntary agencies throughout the United States; Canada; and internationally concerned with protecting every child in America from harm and developing and improving services to abused, neglected, and deprived children and their families. She had responsibility for regional operations, conferences and training, strategic planning, membership development, and the Center for Business Resources. She represented CWLA as a part of numerous national collaboratives and in the media.

Prior to joining CWLA, Allen was the director of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services within the Maryland Department of Human Resources. In that capacity, she provided strategic direction to state-funded, state-adminstered programs including Social Services, Child Welfare, Income Maintenance, and Child Support. She led a workforce of 2,800 full-time employees and 100 volunteers and students, and managed a $400 million budget. In her position of director, Allen worked with all levels of government, the business community, public and private nonprofit agencies, advocates, the state legislature, and the media.

Allen earned a bachelor of arts degree at Morgan State University and a master's of public administration at the University of Baltimore. She is also a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Business and School of Social Work's Executive Management Development Program and the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government's Executive Management and Leadership Program.

She serves as the secretary of the Morgan State University Board of Regents. She is the past chair of the Child and Family Services Agency Advisory Board in Washington, DC, and is the recipient of numerous awards including the University of Baltimore's Alumnus of the Year Award and the Clementine Peterson Award for Outstanding Volunteer Leadership, United Way of Central Maryland.