Lydia Allen, Assistant Director of Community Health, has worked at Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS) for over eight years, and has nineteen years of experience working in the human services, human rights and public health fields. In her current role, she oversees programs that provide access to health services and health coverage options for clients who experience low-income and have no or insufficient health insurance, particularly supporting access to preventative and ongoing services/benefits. With deep knowledge of the health social safety-net across Northern Virginia, she supports a team of case workers and community health workers who work holistically to provide clients with comprehensive resources to improve their health outcomes.
Lydia serves as a member of NVFS’ Immigrant Resiliency Workgroup and NVFS’ Volunteer Engagement Coalition. Previously, Lydia was a Co-Chair of the NVFS Moving Forward Task Force, a committee that recommended operational and programmatic adaptations due to the COVID-19 public health crisis as well as Co-Lead of the Supervisors and Managers Peer Support Group.
Prior to NVFS, Lydia managed programs for a range of nonprofit human rights and development organizations, including Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the Academy for Educational Development. Lydia holds a dual Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in Psychology and Spanish; and a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University in Economic and Political Development. She is fluent in English and Spanish.