Stephanie Allen

A spirited combination of business visionary, women’s advocate, and civic leader, Stephanie Allen was characterized by a lifelong commitment to the women of Colorado and to the community as a whole. Allen is known nationally and internationally for her work in the advancement and retention of corporate women and was the first woman recipient of the prestigious Dan Ritchie Award for Ethics in Business.

As a trailblazer for Colorado women, Allen  offered a guiding hand in many of the state’s women’s organizations. Founder of the Colorado Women’s Coalition, she has served as president of major women’s leadership groups, including the Women’s Forum of Colorado, the Junior League, and the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

A fourth generation Denverite, Allen is the founder of Spree—The Colorado Celebration of the Arts, a member of  former Mayor Wellington Webb’s Task Force on Affirmative Action, and is a former history teacher in the Denver Public Schools. Additionally, she has served on the boards of scores of healthcare organizations, educational, arts, and community groups.

Based on her passion for creating a better workplace and a better world, Allen formed The AthenA Group in 1989. AthenA provides leadership development for corporations locally and globally. In 1997, she launched Women’s Vision Foundation, the only organization in Colorado dedicated exclusively to leadership development for advancing women in corporations. Its vision is of corporations that succeed because of their inclusive natures, where women and men work together as equal partners, or as Ms. Allen describes, “Workplaces where the human spirit thrives.”

While she played a significant role in the success of scores of women in Colorado, Allen’s focus on elevating the status of women is not just to benefit women but rather to benefit society as a whole. By helping make women’s voices heard in local, national, and multinational corporations, she is helped to assure balance in how American corporations influence global issues dear to the hearts of women, such as the environment, health, peace, and poverty. Allen passed away in 2022. 

Books containing reference to Stephanie Allen:

Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America