Allison Kupfer Poteet

She/Her/Hers

Managing Partner

I am based in: Portland, Maine

My strengths are: Pattern Recognition, Consensus Building, Problem Solving, Writing, Facilitation

I identify as: reluctant extrovert with eldest daughter/granddaughter/niece energy, serial "new kid in town", feminist, canine communicator, partner, mom, and friend.

Allison comes to our work with a passion for personal leadership narratives and the lives of organizations. As Managing Partner, Allison is a seasoned search practitioner with deep experience designing and facilitating rigorous, inclusive processes that lead to transformative results. Over more than 15 years, she has built a portfolio of clients across philanthropy, policy and advocacy, evaluation and learning, direct service, conveners, and other innovative social changemakers. She brings a particular interest in the talent dimensions of bringing evidence-based solutions and interventions to scale to promote equity, access, and opportunity. She leads business development strategy and refinement of best practices and systems to support excellence in all aspects of our work.

Allison’s early career was in policy analysis and evaluation as an analyst in a global research and evaluation firm, where she focused on measuring the effectiveness of early literacy interventions in low-income urban and rural settings across the United States. She joined NPAG in 2009 and became a partner in the firm in 2015.

Allison has a B.A. in American Studies from Skidmore College and a masters in education policy from Harvard. She serves as treasurer of the board of directors of Island Readers & Writers, a nonprofit that provides innovative author and illustrator-driven programs designed to foster a love of reading and experiential learning among children in rural Maine, where she has found a beloved adopted home community on the southern coast with her husband and daughter. She enjoys finding new singer songwriters and chili recipes, indoor horticulture, devouring biographies and local obituaries, intergenerational friendships, and year-round outdoor activities in Maine and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

More About Allison

Is there a quote that inspires you? "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." Maya Angelou

What lasting change do you want your work to have? I'd like our work to build comfort with and resilience to the impacts of constant change.