“My Belmont experience has truly taken me in many positive and productive directions,” alumnus Erick Allen said. When recalling his time at Belmont, Allen remembers how Belmont helped prepare him for his career and for his newest position as a Georgia State Representative.
After graduating from Belmont in 2001 with a degree in business administration, Allen has since gone on to work in several industries, allowing him to have a diverse background. His first position out of college was working as director of learning for Central Parking Corporation. After this position he transitioned into healthcare where he spent many years in departments ranging from human resources to talent management. Allen currently serves as a talent management consultant supporting the healthcare division of Cornerstone On Demand.
One of Allen’s most important positions, that led him to where his is today, was working as the executive director of learning and development for a state agency. He recalls this position as a transformative one saying, “after seeing some of the deficiencies of state government, I thought that my skills would be better served as a policy maker. This is what propelled me to my first campaign in 2014.”
Although Allen was a business administration major at Belmont, he said that one of his most influential classes was a sociology elective with Dr. Andi Stepnick. He credits the class with opening him to his passion and compassion for others. “There are still things that I read over today that were assignments from her class,” Allen said. “As a policy maker this grounds me in my approach and decision making.”
Allen looks back at his time at Belmont as one that helped him grow and learn how to be successful. “Belmont brought out my confidence and my ability to work collaboratively in diverse settings,” he said. “It was at Belmont that I learned to just ignore the box and create my own boundaries for success.”
