Allison founded Namaste Charter School 9 years ago as a means to combat Chicago's skyrocketing childhood obesity rates. Her school seeks to educate the whole child--body, mind and spirit--by offering healthy hot lunches and a full salad bar; one hour of daily P.E. plus 25 minutes of recess; free nutrition and exercise classes for families; daily socio-emotional classroom instruction; and a rigorous academic program. Allison has worked tirelessly to provide the most well-rounded educational experience for her students, who are 87 percent low-income, 30 percent English language learners and 20 percent special education learners. Despite these statistics, Namaste ranks high above the district average for academic performance. Namaste also offers a dual-language (Spanish) program that supports the school's large population of Mexican immigrant families while also teaching many native English speakers how to read, write, and speak in Spanish. Allison is an amazing school leader and has been honored at the White House by the U.S. Department of Education and Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative. Despite those high honors, Allison remains humble. She is on the cutting edge and the front lines of urban education.