Amber Allen

Pronouns: she/her

As Associate Director, Client Experience, Amber works directly with clients to learn and fully comprehend their goals and ensure they understand the services that CSA offers. She collaborates closely with clients on ways that CSA’s services can provide solutions. Amber has extensive experience in a variety of roles in the educational publishing industry, which helps her understand client needs. Amber works closely with project teams to write clear proposals, negotiate contracts, and verify contract details are fulfilled. 

Amber has worked in educational publishing for more than twenty years. From Project Editor and Production Editor to Financial Analyst, Managing Editor, and Operations Project Manager, Amber’s experience spans preK-12 and higher education in all subject areas. She has created production schedules; worked directly with authors, vendors, and freelancers; managed staff, internal budgets, and projects; and done everything in between, while gaining valuable experience in each role. 

Highlights from Amber’s career include the following:

• Overseeing the financial management, project management, and resource management in support of program development for secondary education programs
• Managing a team of full-time employees in addition to multiple freelance and offshore personnel; assigning projects; hiring and training project managers and assistants; conducting staff meetings; participating in planning commission to evaluate workload versus capacity and implementing steps to accordingly manage future inflow
• Assisting with the creation of ROM budgets and details of component budgets
• Identifying potential vendors, preparing bid packages, and evaluating incoming bids
• Coordinating the production of higher ed textbooks and serving as the liaison with author and publisher clients as well as compositors, art studios, and other vendors

Amber earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English-Writing and Women’s Studies from Illinois Wesleyan University, and her Masters of Literature from Northwestern University. 

Amber loves to travel! She has spent a month in China and has been skydiving in Australia. She has visited Iceland five times (her husband is Icelandic) and her favorite city and preferred vacation spot is London.

Contact Amber at aa****@cs****.com