Allison Sandmeyer serves as Youth Programming Director for Free The Children, the world's largest network of children helping children through education. Allison oversees a team of more than 30 young leaders across North America, motivating and inspiring youth for active global citizenship, and providing them with opportunities to make a difference through tangible, youth-driven campaigns. As a growing movement of youth committed to positive social action, these youth are shifting traditional notions of the role of young people in global affairs and development and are directly supporting the provision of schools and educational programs to their underprivileged peers overseas, breaking the cycle of poverty for these children and their communities.

Through 2008, Allison is playing a leading role managing the expansion of opportunities for youth learning, networking, and action on global issues through a large scale program with Oprah's Angel Network. This role follows a successful period of work as a Development Coordinator with Free The Children, where Allison worked closely with diverse individual and institutional actors to generate support for youth engagement and international development programming.

Allison's work in global issues and development follows a B.A. in International Relations (Political Science) from the University of Alberta and an M.A. of International Development Studies from Dalhousie University. There Allison's theoretical studies in global issues and approaches were complemented by field research in a remote First Nations community, looking at whether and how a community-driven project was translating into sustainable livelihoods in the community. Allison has traveled and lived extensively throughout Canada, as well as traveled and volunteered internationally in Kenya and Thailand.