PEORIA MAGAZINE February 2023

S P O T L I G H T

MAN ON THE MOVE Peoria County now has its first diversity, equity and inclusion offi cer in the person of Andre Allen BY BOB GRIMSON PHOTO BY RON JOHNSON W hen Andre Allen was an eighth-grader at Peoria’s Sterling Middle School, a teacher challenged him to “step up his game” on and off the basketball court. Rather than being resentful or hurt, Allen opted to show the teacher he could do just that. At graduation the teacher told Allen, “You’re going to be in the White House someday. And I want to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom.” While Peoria’s City Hall isn’t theWest Wing, Allen is comfortable there as the city’s Fourth District councilman. Now, he’s also getting acquainted with the courthouse as Peoria County’s chief di versity, equity and inclusion (DEI) officer. “I get to be my own professional Picasso. It’s a blank canvas,” Allen said about the newly created job. “But there's also no breadcrumbs to follow.” Allen said the new job grew from the nationwide protests and calls for change following the death of George Floyd in 2020.

84 FEBRUARY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE