Having proved that you can take the girl out of Lowell, but cannot, in fact, take the Lowell out of the girl, Allison Dolan-Wilson lived in Southern California for 16 years before returning to her birthplace.

Allison is currently Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the NECC Foundation at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill and Lawrence, where she oversees fundraising, marketing and communications, alumni relations, stewardship, grants, workforce development and corporate relations, career services, and institutional effectiveness.

An alumna of Saint Michael Elementary School and Lowell High, Allison holds a degree in PR and Advertising from Emerson College. She worked as a publicist in Hollywood for several years before turning to a career in higher education, including roles at San Diego State University (where she received her MBA), University of California—Irvine, and MIT.

A fourth generation Lowellian born and raised in the city’s Centralville neighborhood, Allison’s contributions to InsideLowell focus on strong women and the amazing work they do in the Mill City. Adding to her credentials as one of those strong women, she recently completed the LEADS program, an economic and leadership development program our of Harvard Business School with leaders from Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill.

Allison comes from a large family and currently lives with her husband, Jeff (who still isn’t sure why she insists on constantly introducing herself as originally from Centralville) and her two kids, Liam and Maggie. You can often catch her being a tourist in her own city.

Why Allison joined InsideLowell:
“There is something in the place where we were born that holds us always by the heart-strings.” – Lucy Larcom, Lowell Mill Girl