Nicole Allen is the Director of Open Education for SPARC. In this role she leads SPARC's work on Open Educational Resources (OER), focusing on public policy and engaging and supporting the library community on this issue. Nicole joined SPARC in 2013 already established as a leading figure in the OER movement through her previous role at the Student Public Interest Research Groups. During her seven year tenure, Nicole worked with college students to organize numerous large-scale grassroots campaigns on OER and related issue areas, including a 40-campus, cross-country van tour called the "Textbook Rebellion" and organizing 3,000 professors to sign a commitment to consider adopting open textbooks. Nicole is widely cited in the media for her work, and is considered one of the leading issue experts on college textbook costs.
Nicole graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 2006 with a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy. A life-long activist, Nicole chose a career in grassroots organizing because of her first hand experience with the power of the student voice. Currently she splits her time between her home in Providence, RI and SPARC's headquarters in Washington, DC.
