He received his Juris Doctor in 1994 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California, San Diego with Departmental Honors of High Distinction in 1991, and has also studied at universities in Mexico City and Costa Rica. Mr. Allen is the founder and principal of the Law Offices of Steve Allen, Esq., a boutique law firm providing a broad array of civil, criminal, and administrative legal services. Mr. Allen is bilingual (Spanish/English), a Certified Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victim Counselor, and the former Director of Legal Services at Center for Community Solutions, a social change agency providing services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. He began his personal journey of hope and change at McAlister Institute in 1983 and joined the board in 2014.