Women We Admire: Allison Rodman

Please give us four words that describe you.

Professional Learner / Designer / Facilitator

What was your first job?

As a junior in high school, I was committed to saving up for a car so I worked at my council’s Girl Scout office during day, a convenience store in the evenings, and a candy store near the beach on the weekends.

What do you do now?

I am the founder of The Learning Loop, an educational consulting organization that provides professional learning design, facilitation, and coaching services to districts, schools, nonprofit organizations, and businesses internationally. My work focuses on adult learning, and my second book will be released in 2021.

I volunteer as a Girl Scout leader and vice president of my local school board. My husband Doug is a teacher and my ultimate sounding board and sanity check. Our three kids and dog spark beautiful chaos and utter joy each step of the way. Color-coded calendars and categorized action plans are my love language.

What are you reading/watching now?

I frequently skip around between books depending on my mood (and focus). Right now my Kindle and Audible playlists include titles to push me past my own limiting beliefs: Brag Better, Female Firebrands, Power Moves, and The Likeability Trap.

What inspires you?

Designing learning opportunities that nudge others to have “ah-ha” moments – whether that be a leader or facilitator I am coaching, a friend I am supporting, or one of my own kids. I am inspired when I can help others grow into and beyond their potential.

What is one intention you have for the next three months?

Scaling my impact.

About Allison

Allison Rodman is a member of Tide Risers 2020 and the founder of The Learning Loop, an educational consulting organization that provides professional learning services to districts, schools, nonprofit organizations, and businesses internationally. Allison is deeply committed to connecting learners together and sharing resources to personalize the learning process for all. The goal of her work is to support the whole learner to view growth as a process and not an endpoint. Allison works with learning organizations to design, facilitate, and coach professional learning that is personalized, purposeful, and paradigm-shifting.

Allison has experience as a teacher, instructional coach, school leader, director of teaching and learning, director of professional development, and board member. This provides her with unique perspectives on coaching and teacher leadership in addition to school and district leadership.

Allison is an ASCD author and faculty member, and her book "Personalized Professional Learning: A Job-Embedded Pathway for Elevating Teacher Voice" was selected as the May 2019 ASCD premium member book. She has been published multiple times in Educational Leadership, and her work has been highlighted by The Marshall Memo.

Allison is a PLUS author for Eduplanet21, trusted contributor for MyEdExpert, KDSL global speaker, innovative learning consultant for Catalyst:Ed, and leadership coach for Catapult Learning. Allison's leadership in professional learning was recognized by EdTech Digest, and she was named a Startup Founder Leadership Finalist (2018) and Education Trendsetter (2019). The EdTech Awards celebrate innovators, leaders, and trendsetters in the field of education.

Allison received a bachelor's degree and teaching certification from the University of Richmond, where she majored in political science and secondary education, and a master's degree and principal certification from the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in educational leadership. You can follow her on Twitter @thelearningloop.