Allen Kenneth Schaidle is an international education and international development expert. He has experience advising governments, international institutions, and nonprofits in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, North Macedonia, the People’s Republic of China, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States on developing transformative and sustainable education policies.

By developing strategies and policies that are cost-efficient and scalable, Allen’s initiatives emphasize stabilization, organization, and mobilization both institutionally and nationally. His combination of negotiation, strategic communication, and high-level analysis cultivate public and private sector partnerships, fundraising and donor engagement, and community engagement.

Allen primarily advises on the three following categories: international education country/institution partnerships, country-level higher education reform, and student engagement practices within multicultural environments.

He received a MSc in Higher Education from the University of Oxford and a M.A. in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University. Allen completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas accumulating such prestigious titles as Hall Center Scholar, Global Scholar, and School of Education’s Senior Leadership Award.

Throughout his career, Allen has concentrated on higher education, international education, and rural education with fieldwork across multiple countries. His writings have appeared in The Nation, Inside Higher Education, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, and the New York Times. In his free time, Allen publishes stories of his outdoor explorations and is a published poet.

A native of Worth Township, Illinois, Allen considers the banks of Blue Creek and forest of central Illinois his eternal home.