Jerry Allen & Mary Ellen Young: Respected, Experienced and Objective Regional School Trustees

Incumbents Mary Ellen T. Young and Gerald R. “Jerry” Allen are candidates for seats on the DuPage Regional Board of School Trustees (RBST).  Both candidates were appointed to openings on the board in recent years and are now seeking election on April 9.  

“We are honored to volunteer for this important board.  Trustees must objectively and carefully analyze complex cases involving petitions for changes in school district boundaries. These cases affect students, taxpayers and school districts. We are experienced, committed and impartial members of this board,” said the candidates.

Young served for eight years (2001-2009) on the Downers Grove Grade School District 58 Board of Education where she chaired the Legislative Committee. She is also the co-founder of Helping Girls Navigate Adolescence (HGNA), a non-profit organization providing support to girls and parents in the community. She is a board member of the Grove Foundation and has been actively involved in the local community in a number of other ways including as former chairperson of the Downers Grove Visitors Bureau.

Young and her husband, Tony, have lived in Downers Grove for 23 years. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and a former hotel consultant.  A bullying prevention specialist, consultant and speaker, Young is a strong advocate for youth, parents and education, and a past member of the DuPage Anti-Bullying Task Force.  Young was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Regional Board of School Trustees in 2011 and is seeking election to a six-year term.

Allen, a former DuPage County school teacher, is currently a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual.  He is a life member of the Million Dollar Round Table and has received the prestigious Recruiting Award and the Achievement Award from Northwestern Mutual.  A native of Illinois, Allen is a graduate of Wheaton College and resides in Wheaton with his wife, Corinne, a former DuPage County elementary school teacher. Their four adult children have benefited from the DuPage County public education system and all have gone on to earn college degrees, including one Ph.D.

Allen has extensive leadership experience on a variety of business and community boards including service as a trustee of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) and president of the local and state chapters. He has also served as president of his church council, chairman of two committees at his alma mater, a Republican committeeman, and auditor for the Milton Township Republican Central Committee. Allen was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Regional Board of School Trustees in 2012 and is seeking election to complete the four years remaining on his term.

The Regional Board of School Trustees’ only responsibility is to hear petitions for annexations, detachments and changes in school district boundaries. The RBST is not the “school board” for the County and has no authority over the DuPage Regional Office of Education or school district budgets, spending, curriculum, and staffing. RBST members are elected from seven different townships within DuPage County. For more information, visit www.electyoungandallen.com.