Staff Spotlight: Meet Liv Allen

Education Coordinator, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa

Author: Cathy Essick
Financial Literacy
Published: Thursday, 13 Nov 2025

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Image caption: Olivia “Liv” Allen, JAEI’s newest Education Coordinator, brings her creativity and event experience to delivering meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities for students across Eastern Iowa.

Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa is excited to welcome Olivia “Liv” Allen, our newest Education Coordinator, to the team! Liv joined JAEI in October 2025 and is already bringing her creativity, energy, and passion for hands-on learning to every part of her role.

For Liv, this work feels like coming full-circle. She attended JA BizTown® as a kid—an experience she still remembers as the best day of elementary school. “I knew I would feel fulfilled here because the work is so meaningful,” she says. Now, she gets to help provide those same unforgettable experiences for today’s students.

In her role, Liv connects volunteers, school personnel, and local businesses to JA opportunities and helps organize JAEI’s signature experiential learning events—including JA Career Inspire®, Career Speaker events, and equipment exploration fairs. She’s especially excited to help students learn the real-world skills she wishes she had been taught earlier, from understanding credit cards to feeling confident exploring careers.

Liv brings an impressive background in event coordination, arts management, and large-scale live experiences. Before joining JAEI, she worked as an Event Coordinator at The Englert Theatre in Iowa City and gained wide-ranging experience with concerts, festivals, community events, wedding venues, NASCAR, and even booking talent.

A Des Moines native, Liv graduated from Roosevelt High School before attending the University of Iowa, where she studied Interdepartmental Business Management and Event Management.

Creativity is at the heart of who Liv is. Outside of work, she runs a vibrant art business, creating custom pieces across mediums—painting, sketching, crochet, embroidery, knitwear, and even handmade rugs. When she’s not crafting something new, you can find her walking her dog, reading, making candles or wine, or enjoying lake life with anything outdoors.

Liv credits the strong women she’s worked with—especially her former boss, Becca Breazeale—for shaping her professional confidence and leadership. She carries those lessons with her as she inspires the next generation.

If she could pass along one message to students, it’s this:
Never stop learning.
“It’s easy to stay in your comfort zone, but JA helps students appreciate new knowledge through immersive experiences.”

Liv describes herself as creative, positive, and empathetic—qualities that shine through in everything she does. And the one word she uses to describe joining JAEI?
Excited!

We’re thrilled to have Liv on the JAEI team and can’t wait to see the impact she’ll make on students across Eastern Iowa. Welcome, Liv! 🌟