We’re all familiar with the term “having a seat at the table,” and in a post-affirmative action and DEI battle era, having individuals such as Krystal Hardy Allen pull up the chair to that table is essential. 

The Selma, Alabama native is the CEO and founder of K. Allen Consulting. Based in New Orleans, her firm specializes in diversity, equity, and inclusion training for nonprofits, schools, corporations, and businesses globally, spearheading those hard conversations we may be reluctant to have with our employers behind closed doors. 

“[Companies] are putting a lot of money into diversifying teams, but they’re not addressing the work conditions that they’re coming into, which means you have turnover,” she says. 

As a former educator and school principal, the University of Notre Dame graduate experienced firsthand the inequities and disparities children of various ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds faced. 

She reflected on what inspired her drive to create her firm with the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies’s blog. 

“I began thinking about ways in which I could support and equip educators who looked like me,” she wrote, “and even ones who didn’t with the skills, knowledge, and tools to create transformational spaces for kids, but also not lose ourselves in the work or feel that we have to assimilate and die inwardly, to be transformational.” 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are over 3.1 million Black-owned businesses in the U.S. Additionally, there are over 130,000 human resources consultants in the U.S., but barely 8% of those consultants are African American. Allen’s firm is among that number. 

Being the DEI voice in the tech industry

As an African-American woman business owner, Allen is passionate about putting issues related to diversity and inclusion in the spotlight, specifically those that target people of color. Allen would constantly tweet about social justice, inclusion, and race-related topics on her social media. It was her tweet about important DEI issues that garnered the attention of tech giants, who soon became their clients. 

“That’s how Amazon found us,” she says. “There were some staff members from Amazon who have been following the social media platform, and they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we need to bring you in for X, Y, Z.’” 

Over the years, Allen’s firm has worked with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple. According to a 2023 report from McKinsey, Black professionals make up 8% of tech jobs. Additionally, women of color, such as Latoya Drake of Google, represent less than 3% of that number, according to a 2023 survey from Accenture.

“A lot of the people who identify as either women or trans or folks of color have varied, unique experiences and deal with gaslighting of their experiences and feeling like their experiences are invalidated because the tech world hasn’t necessarily operationalized DEI methods properly,” Allen says. 

Community advocate 

When Krystal is not traveling the country coaching corporations and nonprofits on inclusivity, she is in the streets of her New Orleans community providing resources and support to residents, specifically our hidden figures in the school system. 

Earlier this month, Allen and her team partnered with Chick-Fil-A and surprised local school faculty with breakfast. A recap of the visit was posted on the firm’s Instagram page and has garnered over 700 views. 

“School janitors & custodians, secretaries, cafeteria staff, and even school bus drivers can be overlooked within the profession of education,” the reel caption read,  “, especially for the hard work they do EVERYDAY that really does make our schools function seamlessly!” 

This is not the first time Allen has surprised faculty with treats. 

“We do it sporadically throughout the year,” she says.  “We might be working with a couple of school principals and hear that the morale is down at a school, and they need inspiration in some type of way, so we’ll surprise them with Mexican in the middle of the day. Instead of going to the cafeteria, they walk into a teacher’s lounge and they see all these taco bars and all these things.”

Not only is Allen in the schools, but she’s also part of the Beyhive. Recently, she purchased tickets for her entire staff to see Beyonce’s Renaissance concert in New Orleans on Sept. 27th.

“I realized that not all of our team were going,” Allen explained, “so that was their gift for the month of September.” 

Now that’s good employee retention and morale, which Allen values. “I take the time to regularly invest in them and maintain positive morale which also helps staff retention and company success,” she says. 

First-time author 

Today, she continues to expand her platform into the literary space. 

The instructional coach recently penned her first book titled “What Goes Unspoken: How School Leaders Address DEI Beyond Race,” which will dive into the “what” and “how” of understanding, embracing, and applying DEI. 

The book will also serve as a guide for principals, teachers, superintendents, coaches, school board members and educational leaders. It will educate readers on how DEI can be embedded in their strategic planning, and to create schools and education organizations that are transformative, inclusive, and equitable for both children and adults.

 “As a former school principal and teacher, current full-time education and management consultant, and now published author, this text has a true labor of love,” she says. 
“What Goes Unspoken” is available for pre-order now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million.