Candidate: Allison B. Campbell

Allison B. Campbell made Ocala/Marion County her home when she was recruited to move here from southeast Tennessee. A young, single, professional woman, fresh out of graduate school, with a master’s degree in communication studies, she persuaded her fiancé to move here. Together, she and Andy are raising their sons in Ocala.

Allison has worked in for-profit and nonprofit businesses, as well as building her own small public relations business. She excels in her chosen profession by earning and maintaining the Accredited in Public Relations (APR) and the Certified Public Relations Counselor (CPRC) designations. Always a proponent for education and personal growth, Allison is currently pursuing a Doctorate in strategic communication.

These unique perspectives will bring a New Vision and a New Voice to the board leadership of Marion County Public Schools. A fresh look from a variety of views can focus in on how to improve what is good, remove what detracts from the mission and add elements that can bolster success.

As a wife and mother to three students enrolled in Marion County Public Schools, Allison and her husband just navigated distance learning through COVID-19 like the families of 43,000 other children in our school system. This experience is unique to her in the candidacy for District 1, as well as nearly all current school board members. This perspective focuses Allison’s vision on how schools can engage parents to help their children excel.

With experience as a corporate executive and small business owner, Allison sees Marion County Public Schools from the perspective of our students’ future employers. She understands how a variety of skill levels impact the success of a business.

• As a healthcare executive, she saw what it takes to succeed in roles from physician, nurse, skilled technicians to business office professionals. She knows some of our students will excel to be the physicians of tomorrow, but we also need to invest equally in the students who will lift patients’ spirits as they sanitize their rooms.
• As an executive director for a local nonprofit, Allison sees the needs of our most vulnerable populations and how important it is to educate our future leaders to give back to the community. As a founding member of the Nonprofit Business Council, Allison developed a successful curriculum, Youth Philanthropy in Action, that is teaching middle school students the importance of investing in our community.
• As an executive for a leading automobile dealer, Allison knows customers may buy a car from a salesperson, but the skill and customer service of automotive service reps and mechanics keep the dealership in the positive gears for success. Allison also led that dealership to salute our best and brightest teachers by providing a car for the Golden Apple Teacher of the Year. She also orchestrated automobile donations for Community with a Heart recipients.

As an adjunct professor for the College of Central Florida and Southeastern University, Allison appreciates the excellence produced by Marion County Public Schools, but also sees gaps where some students could be better prepared for higher education. She relates to the struggles of teachers in Marion County who shifted their interpersonal and classroom presentation skills to an online learning setting after the COVID 19 pandemic. She felt the pain of forced change while also embracing the excitement of finding new ways to relate to her students.

As a current student pursuing a doctorate, Allison B. Campbell was engaged with distance learning platforms a year before COVID. She was able to empathize with students who had to trade classrooms for living rooms or bedrooms as the site of their education.

Establishing her family’s roots in Marion County, Allison B. Campbell is actively involved in civic leadership. She currently serves on the Education Vision Council for the United Way of Marion County, the board for the Florida Public Relations Association, Ocala Chapter, the Osceola Middle School SAC committee and board for the Ocala Women’s Network. She previously held leadership roles on the board of directors for ARC Marion and the Public Education Foundation of Marion County.

Knowing research is the foundation for executing a strategic plan, Allison B. Campbell has visited every school in the County, spoken with every principal in the District and learned more about each department within our school system. These interactions have helped Allison focus each of her perspectives to form a New Vision for Marion County Public Schools.

She utilized active listening skills to connect the dots from what she garnered in those visits to agenda items presented to the current school board meetings.  She met with each sitting school board member to advocate ideas and desired changes she heard expressed.  From conversations with principals, teachers and students, she has celebrated in their triumphs and empathized with the struggles that keep them up at night.

 “The unique experience I’ve gained and strong relationships I’ve built, will bring a New Vision – one of mother, business owner and professor –  to the leadership of Marion County Public Schools. My passion as a concerned citizen and conviction, spurred by the belief that the education every student receives each year will impact this community for generations, will bring a New Voice to the Marion County School Board to advocate for the citizens and students. We must get it right, and I want to be a part of making policies needed to impact change.

I have the Vision and the Voice to be your next school board member. Learn more about me at ABC4Schools. I would appreciate your support during the August 18 primary.”

Allison B. Campbell, Candidate for District 1 Representative, Marion County School Board