Chauntyll Allen

Born and raised in the historically Black Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul, MN, Chauntyll Allen is a longtime front-line community organizer, educator and youth activist. She leads Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, founded Love First Community Engagement, and works as the Director of Criminal Justice and Activism at the Wayfinder Foundation. She joined the St. Paul School Board in January 2020. Her journey with the district began as a graduate of Central High School, and continued through the years as program coordinator with Community Education, basketball coach for middle and high school, Teaching Assistant, Discovery Club teacher, and Educational Assistant (EBD level 4-6). Chauntyll brings a special interest of special education and addressing the current disparities to the Board. She was inspired by Commissioner Toni Carter’s dedication to working with youth, and she has been a great mentor to Chauntyll. Chauntyll and her wife Satara Strong-Allen now live in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood where in addition to serving as a board member, Chauntyll is a youth advocate and educator. A love of St. Paul and the city’s youth drives Chauntyll in her work. On her first campaign, Chauntyll promised to put Love First and fight for ALL St. Paul students.

She was successful in all her campaign promises…

✅ Trauma-free schools Chauntyll has been a leader in creating community-based school safety that has replaced ineffective, traumatizing law enforcement with staff who provide security from a lens of justice, equity and care.

✅ Workforce training Chauntyll promised to bring the trades back into our schools and she was a key voice to increase funding and programming for technical training across the district.

✅ Culturally relevant education With strong support from Chauntyll, SPPS passed ethnic studies as a graduation requirement, affirmed smudging in schools, decolonized the name of a district middle school, and more.

She also was a leader in…

✅ Raising the pay for paras to a living wage

✅ Divesting district investments in private prisons and fossil fuels

✅ Introducing and passing significant racial justice and equity resolutions

✅ Ensuring SPPS was among the first districts to distribute food by bus to families immediately at the start of the pandemic