Lynne Allen is a native New Yorker who comes to City College after a career in financial services and in the arts and professional theatre. While working at Ground Zero during the recovery and restoration efforts after September 11th, Lynne made the decision to formally pursue studies in the behavioral sciences. Her goal is to ultimately pursue a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and to dedicate the balance of her working career to advocating for and treating individuals coping with psychological stress and mental illness, particularly in underserved urban communities. She is involved with national organizations like NAMI and ASPA, which address mental health and public policy issues and sponsor local outreach programs for individuals impacted by or suffering from mental illness. In addition to her recent award of the New York Life Endowment Scholarship, she is a City College Fellow and Vice President of the CCNY Chapter of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology. Lynne spent the summer of 2007 interning with the Ministry of Health’s Psychosocial Trauma Counseling Unit in Rwanda.