Portia Allen-Kyle is the Interim Executive Director at Color Of Change where she works to advance Color Of Change’s vision, impact, and efficiency.
Portia has a track record of advancing equity in nonprofit, government, and academic settings. Portia comes to Color Of Change with impressive experience as Senior Advisor for Equity, Policy and Stakeholder Engagement in the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Transportation. There, she advised leaders on how to incorporate equity into agency policy and led the Justice40 initiative, electrifying transportation, instituting diversity equity and inclusion practices, and spearheading funding pools to move towards more inclusive decision-making. She also helped oversee funding for Title VI recipients and managed agency events and outreach with the relaunch of the federal Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity. Prior to that, she worked at the Council of State Governments Justice Center as Deputy Division Director and at the Voting Rights Lab as Director of Innovation and Police.
Other professional experiences include teaching, research, and consulting on policy, equity and inclusion, and organizational development for nonprofits and educational entities. In 2021 Portia was recognized as a Top 40 Attorney by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyer’s Division. She is also the author of Advice to Thrive By: How to Use Your Resume and Cover Letter to Build Your Brand and Launch A Dynamic Public Interest Career. When she is not pursuing justice, she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, going to see concerts and live theater.
