Allen Kaplan
Allen Kaplan is a 40-year veteran of Public Affairs, Marketing and Business Development consulting and has specialized in public/private ventures while representing both public and private clients.
Prior to affiliating with JL Powers & Associates, LLC, Kaplan was Managing Principal/CEO of Allen Kaplan Consulting and Regional Collaborative Consulting, Inc., a full service public affairs and marketing consulting firm representing public, private and non-profit clients.
Kaplan was elected to the Austin Community College (ACC) Board of Trustees in 1994, and re-elected in 2000, 2006 and 2012. He served three terms as Vice Chair of the Board and previously served two years as Secretary of the Board. He also served on the ACC Foundation Board of Directors. He is a founder of the Community College Association of Texas Trustees (CCATT) where he served a Chair and served for 14 years as the Texas State Coordinator for the national Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), having previously served on the ACCT Nominations and Awards Committees. He was honored to be awarded a lifetime membership in ACCT. Through his work as Trustee on the Austin Community College Board and as State Coordinator, Kaplan is well versed in planning issues, state demographics, growth profiles and the role of education in moving forward economic development agendas for both rural and urban areas.
Kaplan has served on numerous community and professional boards including, among others, serving as Chair of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Cap Metro) in the Austin, Texas region, Chair of the Cedar Park Community Foundation and as a founding Director of the Downtown Austin Alliance.
Kaplan is the creator of the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies at ACC, the only center of its kind at a community college in the country. The Center for Public Policy & Political Studies is an innovative program created to enable ACC students to gain practical experience in learning how government policies are created and executed, and to improve communications between public entities and the people they serve. The Center for Public Policy & Political Studies (CPPPS) is a non-partisan, non-profit center dedicated to expanding knowledge of, and participation in political processes and public policy for ACC students and their communities.
Kaplan has made numerous presentations to community groups including various Rotary and Lions clubs, Central Texas Chambers of Commerce and various Real Estate and Development Associations. As a founder of the political action group, Friends of ACC, he presented numerous times during the election campaigns that successfully added seven jurisdictions to the ACC taxing district almost doubling the ACC tax base and more the doubling the College taxing district’s geographic size. Kaplan also has authored columns for local magazines on ACC and community college issues and as a statewide Trustee officer he authored several statewide guest editorials on community college financial and budget challenges.
Allen and his wife Maxine are very active members of the Austin Jewish Community and he has served on the Boards of Congregation Beth Israel and the Austin Jewish Day School as well as the Jewish Community Association’s Strategic Planning Committee. Allen and Maxine are founders and active members in Congregation Shir Ami in Cedar Park where he has served twice as President and for 16 years on the Board of Trustees of the congregation. Allen and Maxine are also founders of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation (LEEF), which supports the students and faculty of the Leander Independent School District (LISD), one of the fastest growing school districts in the nation. They have two adult children Ileene, a Pre-K teacher, and Scott, an Executive Chef, and two grandchildren Rachel, a graduate of the University of Oregon and Candace, a Senior at Glenn HS in the Leander District, and a Terrier Chloe.
Kaplan received his BA in Political Science with minors in History and Theater from the Brooklyn College, City University of New York and attended American University, Washington College of Law.