There is a relatively small segment of leaders in the business world; individuals who seem able to build relationships, trust, and rapport with almost anyone, and are able to garner new relationships and make connections between people, creating partnerships and alliances, and motivating forward momentum to ‘get things done.’ Allakey L. Francis OT/L affectionately known as “Ally” is one of those people. Getting things done and driving results—through collaboration, partnerships, and relationship has been her strong point as a Rehabilitation Director in the healthcare industry. With an enthusiastic and genuinely friendly and charismatic attitude, Allakey radiates a sincere passion for delivering value and benefits to her customers by utilizing her keen ability to lead teams and drive results.

A licensed Occupational Therapist (OT/L) by training, Allakey earned her B.S. in Occupational Therapy at Florida International University in 2002 and as a member of the National Honor Society she graduated within the top 5% of her class. She spent three years as a staff Occupational Therapist in various pediatric and adult therapy settings as a per diem Occupational Therapist. Here she gained an extensive insight into therapy at all levels of acuity for both children and adults. Allakey was promoted as Director of Rehabilitation at a 150-bed acute care rehabilitation center in 2005. She then realized her potential and made the life-changing decision that she could make a larger, positive impact on more people if she moved into administration and management.

After returning to school and earning her M.S. in Health Administration from University of Phoenix, Allakey’s career quickly accelerated over the next 10 years as a Rehabilitation Director within large multi-state corporations from 2005-present day. Allakey’s contributions centered on spearheading development and delivery of supply chain group purchasing services and clinical/operational programs and improvement activities. But more importantly, she focused on building long-lasting, loyal relationships within the Rehabilitation diaspora by developing programs to meet market demands and help deepen market penetration. She also prided herself on coordinating teams of therapist for maximum levels of customer service, building strategic business partners, getting to know account executives, and other relations to deliver programs, services, and tailored clinical solutions.

Throughout it all, Allakey has repeatedly proved her ability to lead through diverse and challenging situations. As mother of two and a wife, she is an excellent agent of change and has a documented track record of accomplishments that include the turnaround of chaotic and struggling operations; start-up and management of struggling rehabilitation departments; creation and launch of new and improved educational, clinical, and operational programs; and growth and expansion of mature, established operations. Along with her family history of entrepreneurship as well as her keen ability to lead teams to customer service and financial success, Allakey has demonstrated her ability to deliver what it takes to take a business to the next level.

She has stepped into her new venture as the co-founder of Kizo Kids a tutoring and therapy service for children. She loves using the business skills she has developed over the last thirteen years as she has worked across the entire healthcare continuum so it is challenging to put her skills in a “box.” What is absolutely clear, is that she has a great deal of value to offer to her business and others, and while the actual job duties may vary, it will almost certainly include some combination of strategic planning, operations, partnership and alliance building, account management and customer relations, marketing, and fundraising, which she has a good deal of experience doing.

Today, Allakey resides in Coral Springs, Florida with her children Alex and Gabby. She plays an active role in their lives and through them, understands the needs of children and determined to fill the need in the community for quality and safe children’s recreation. Along with spending time with her children, she is an active volunteer and member of the Junior League of Boca Raton where she spends her time giving back through the countless charities they support. She also writes for the Simplyorganically blog where she brings to light various topics on green living and sustainability. As a past Florida pageant winner, Allakey has a well-rounded taste for the arts, fashion and for giving back. She enjoys music, spending time outdoors, reading and dancing.

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