VELMA P. ALLEN

Commissioner

Michigan Commission for the Blind

Velma P. Allen is President/CEO of Mott Children's Health Center, where she has worked for the last 16 years. The Center, located in Flint, is a noted multidisciplinary clinic serving poor and near-poor Genesee County children who have special health or developmental problems.

Velma began her career as a high school English teacher in Belzoni, Mississippi. She earned her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Mississippi State University in 1970. At that time, Velma became the Coordinator for Special Education/English and a Psychological Examiner for Leflore County Schools in Greenwood, Mississippi.

In the early 1970’s, Velma moved to Michigan to pursue her Ph.D. in Special Education Administration, which she obtained in 1974. She then began working as the Supervisor of Secondary Special Education in the Grand Rapids Schools and went on to become the Director of Special Education in the Lansing School District.

In 1981, Velma was hired as a Program Officer for the C.S. Mott Foundation in Flint, where she worked until 1984. She was then drawn back to education and became the Superintendent of the Michigan School for the Blind from 1984 until 1990.

Velma previously served on the Michigan Commission for the Blind from 1996-2002 as an appointee under Governor Engler and is pleased to be serving on the Commission once again.

Velma is a widow whose son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter live in Alabama. She enjoys the blues, both listening and singing, and plans to record a collection of her favorites when she retires.