Dr. Allen is an International Management Consultant at Growth Perspectives Limited and a Research Fellow of Innovation at the University of Commonwealth Caribbean. He previously served as an Investment Banking Executive in the Caribbean and an Academic in Australasia, and managed key commercial relationships in the Americas and Europe. Dr. Allen has over eighteen (18) years combined commercial and academic experience. He spent approximately fifteen (15) years in industry, working in strategy formation, securities dealing, treasury operations, risk management, business process reengineering, business development, and corporate finance roles and three (3) years in academia – researching and teaching. A former Head of ECFH Global Investment Solutions – St. Lucia, Dr. Allen was also an Assistant Vice President (Treasury Operations) and Senior Manager (Projects and Strategic Planning) at Scotia Investments Jamaica. He tutored International Trade and Finance at the University of Auckland and worked as a Research Assistant for both the Market Shaping/Innovation Research Group at the University of Auckland and the Organizational Resilience Research Group at the University of Canterbury. Dr. Allen has authored several peer-reviewed academic articles, and newspaper Op-Eds in the strategic management, non-market collaboration, industry associations, economic development, and market innovation domains. 

Dr. Allen is keen on youth and community development and has spent much of his leisure time volunteering in these areas. He served as a member of the committee that organized the inaugural St. Lucia Manufacturers’ Quality Awards Program, Treasurer of the Jamaica / St. Lucia Association, Director of Mona Preparatory School, and Chairman of Greendale Early Childhood Education Centre. In addition, Dr. Allen has mentored youths at the secondary and tertiary educational levels within the countries in which he lived and worked.

Dr. Allen is a Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) and a Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) who graduated with degrees from prestigious UK and Australasian universities. He holds a Ph.D. with major in Strategic Management from the University of Auckland, where he held Marsden and MSA Charitable Trust Doctoral Scholarships, defended his thesis without revision or adjustment, graduated in the top 1 percentile, and gained Beta Gamma Sigma membership. Dr. Allen also holds an MBA in Finance and International Business Strategy (graduated in the top five percentile), University of Manchester (UK), a BCom. in Management (Strategy and Entrepreneurship) (First Class Hons.), University of Canterbury, and a Diploma in Financial Management, Institute of Management and Production. In 2016 when Dr. Allen was a Ph.D. candidate in New Zealand, he was selected as one (1) of only 20 students globally to have received the Journal of Management Studies’ (JMS’) prestigious doctoral fellowship. Later that year, he attended the JMS’ Annual Conference and Professional Development Workshop Sessions at the University of Warrick, UK.

Dr. Allen completed several certification and professional development courses. Among them, are the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) – Canadian Securities Institute, Project Management Principles and Practice – University of New Orleans, Investment Portfolio Management – Euromoney, Operational Risk Management, Crown Agents (UK) and Teaching Principles and Practice for Graduate Teaching Assistants – UoA. Dr. Allen is a solution-oriented individual who is passionate about innovation enabling, financial engineering as well as strategy formation – at the country, cluster, and corporate/firm levels. He synthesizes his skills and experience in these areas using data-driven approaches to help governments and organizations solve complex problems, disrupt and create markets, and increase their overall competitiveness at a regional and global scale.

Dr. Allen is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the Market Shaping Research Group, and the Strategic Management Society – Corporate Strategy Research Group.