Over the past 15 years, Julie Allen has become a bit of a space fanatic. She’ll delve into almost anything space-related, and practically every vacation she recalls has involved something launching. She loves sharing all that she has learned and finding ways to integrate it across her professional and personal life. Her passion for the art and science of space exploration springs from curiosity rather than her formal education and professional experience. She began her career as an artist-in-residence. That formative experience led her to a career-long focus on improving educational outcomes for students caught behind achievement barriers that limited their access to college and family-sustaining career options. She worked for nearly 15 years as the Chief Academic Officer for an international non-profit where she helped improve college-going among their first-generation program participants. She finished her tenure there as Vice President and shortly thereafter began a new non-profit organization, which utilizes the power of community networks to connect promising students to college and career. She built skills in community collaboration and program design as Director of Education in the Denver Community Schools; delivering life-long learning opportunities to 14,000 students each year. Another privilege she has had is to lead the Midwest Consortium for Service-Learning in Higher Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.