Newsroom Archive for 10/19, 2006

Name:  Debby Allen
Age:  50
Born: I was born in Milford, Delaware and grew up in Federalsburg, Maryland (small town on the Eastern Shore) and Dover, Delaware.
Current Digs: Forest in Bedford County
Occupation: CPA/ Treasurer for family construction business
Favorite part about the job:  The flexibility it has provided for me to spend time with my children and support their activities and interests
First job ever?  Besides babysitting, my first job (with regular hours and a paycheck) was as an assistant at a children’s day camp during summers as a teenager. I loved working with children.
Favorite book? My current favorite is A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle.  It is easy to read, quite humorous, and involves traveling in France. (though my schedule has made reading novels a luxury.)
Favorite movie? Miracle on 34th Street (1994).  I remember taking my children to see it in the movies and it is a family favorite to watch each Christmas.
Must-see TV?  Gilmore Girls. My teenage daughter and I enjoying watching this together. It is a show that revolves around a mother and daughter in a small New England town. I also enjoy Grey’s Anatomy.
Comfort food? My mother’s chicken and dumplings
What's in your car CD player right now? Room for Squares by John Mayer
Next journey?  I hope to visit Prague next summer.
One thing most people might be surprised to learn about you? There is a very silly side to me. My children have not learned to fully appreciate this - my youngest daughter says that I would surprise people if I made a joke that was funny.
Last gift you received?  Time spent with my parents. We had a lovely lunch at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and sat on the boardwalk for awhile. 
Best advice you ever got?  Always make new mistakes. Another favorite is: make something positive happen from a negative experience.               
Whom do you admire and why?  I admire my parents most of all, for they have always been loving, encouraging, fair, selfless, and optimistic.  I also admire leaders who listen to different points of view, study issues carefully, look for long-term solutions, and have courage to support positions based on what is in the best interests of citizens instead of the political future for themselves or their political party.  Two past leaders I admire are Thomas Jefferson for his foresight and perseverance advocating for a public educational system and Dwight Eisenhower for his guidance of the Allied forces during the D-Day invasion.
If you could have dinner with any one currently living, whom would it be and why?  I would like to have dinner with Pete du Pont, former U. S. Congressman from Delaware and former Governor of Delaware.  While serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1970’s, he hosted juniors, representing each Delaware high school, for a week-long group session in D.C. to witness the federal government in action.  As one of those students, that experience significantly developed my interest in government and civic engagement.  I would like to hear his viewpoints on the direction the political parties have taken over the years, discuss his wife’s experience as an appointee of President Reagan, and hear his ideas for improving the US educational system and fostering economic growth and sound fiscal policy.
Ambition, political or otherwise?  I do not have a clear-cut answer or goal.  I just know that I want to continue learning, accept new challenges, and find some avenue where I can work together with people and decision-makers to influence progress in some area. My current interests are education and economic development, but I am open to other possibilities.
Describe a perfect day. Traveling in Europe with my family, visiting a cathedral and a medieval castle or chateau during the day and enjoying an exquisite dinner and conversation at an outside café at night, while listening to music under the stars of a European city.

Krysta Jones, a member of the Political Leaders Program Class of 2006, has recently launched a new leadership organization that is aimed at getting more African-Americans elected to office in Virginia. The Virginia Leadership Institute was founded in May 2006 and just last week unveiled its new website.

Jones writes, "The organization emanated from my Master's thesis at George Washington University, where I studied the lack of black congressional representation in Virginia. There has been only one black Representative in Congress from Virginia since Reconstruction, Representative Bobby Scott of the 3rd district, and in 2001 there were less than 250 black elected officials across the state. We can do better."

She continues, "Despite a general increase in African-American office holders in the last 40 years throughout the South, Virginia has lagged behind. The VLI will increase training, networking and mentoring opportunities for blacks interested in running for office, and aims to conduct research on voter attitudes and barriers to electing blacks throughout the Commonwealth."

For more information please visit the website of the Virginia Leadership Institute.