Dr. Colleen Allen is the President and CEO of the Autism Alliance of Michigan. She was appointed by Governor Snyder as the inaugural Chair of the MI Autism Council, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services in 2012, and in 2017, to the state Developmental Disability Council. She was also appointed to the Mayor’s Detroit Workforce Board in 2015 and is a member of Leadership Detroit (XXXVIII). She is a board member for the Michigan Association of Rehabilitation Organizations, Extraordinary Ventures of Michigan, and The Roeper School.

Dr. Allen is the founder and was Director of Henry Ford Health System’s (HFHS) Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities until 2012. In her role as President and CEO of the Autism Alliance, Dr. Allen has spent seven years engaged in advocacy, programming, and training for families and service providers to improve access to critical services and supports and employment opportunities for adults with autism and related disabilities.

Dr. Allen received her B.A. from the University of Michigan, her M.S. in Speech/Language Pathology from Boston University, and her Ph.D. from Wayne State University.