Burkley Allen moved to Nashville in 1982. She’s been active in local matters since receiving her first neighborhood newsletter, and after four decades here she has a deep knowledge and understanding of the city she now represents as Metro Councilmember At-Large.
Since her election to Metro Council in 2011, Burkley has focused on both district and city-wide issues. She worked successfully with neighborhood organizations to expand their historic overlays and to influence proposed developments to ensure that new projects were appropriate for the neighborhood. She has sponsored and passed legislation to allow and regulate outdoor music in commercial areas, require stormwater mitigation for urban infill, regulate short term rental, provide on-going funds to the Barnes Affordable Housing Fund, and provide tax incentives for affordably priced housing. She has invited constituents to join her on WeGo’s Bus Ride 101 on a regular basis, introducing many Nashvillians to the bus service for the first time. She was awarded Walk Bike Nashville’s Kibby Clayton Award in 2018 for her legislative work on sidewalks, greenways, and bikeways, and was listed in the Nashville Post’s 2022 In Charge List for Government and Politics. Burkley is an alum of Leadership Nashville’s Class of 2022.
Burkley has served on the Council’s Public Works, Budget, Planning, Health, Parks, and Convention Committees and Metro Homelessness Commission, the Metro Planning Commission, the Metro Board of Ethics, the Chamber of Commerce’s Education Report Committee, the Solid Waste Master Plan Task Force, the Vision Zero Task Force, the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Task Force, and the Greenways Commission. She served as Chair of the Budget, Planning, Charter Revision, and Affordable Housing Committees, Acting Vice-Mayor, and as Speaker Pro Tem of the Council.
Burkley’s public service began at the neighborhood level, serving on the Hillsboro-West End Neighborhood (HWEN) board for 27 years including two terms as president (1995-96 and 2005-08). A winner of HWEN’s Betty Nixon Good Neighbor Award, Burkley worked closely with neighbors and other local leaders on issues ranging from tree planting, parking and playground development to site-use planning, sidewalk installation and zoning.
Burkley in 1988 at HWEN Tree Day, an event she's organized for 23 years.
For 23 years, Burkley coordinated the annual HWEN Tree Day. Supported by Little River Nursery and a host of volunteers, these efforts have led to the planting of over 3,000 trees in the neighborhood. Burkley has also been a strong advocate for protecting existing trees. As a member of the NES Citizen Advisory Committee, she helped minimize the tree trimming and removal required for an NES high power wire project along I-440 in 2002.
The mother of three now-grown children, Burkley spearheaded the Elmington Park playground build in the early 1990s. New playground equipment was installed after she organized a fund-raising effort among four neighborhoods, and Metro agreed to match those funds. Burkley has since led two other playground projects: one at the Alameda apartments by TSU and another at Second Presbyterian Church, where she is an elder.
As the Metro Council Member for District 18 from 2011 to 2019, Burkley had the pleasure of also working with the Belmont Hillsboro Neighborhood (BHN), 12th South Neighborhood Association (12SNA) and Sunnyside Neighborhood. With these groups, she has worked for new crosswalks, slower speed limits, parking cooperation between neighbors and businesses, and repair and installation of sidewalks.
As both a neighborhood leader and District Council Member, Burkley worked to preserve District 18’s neighborhood character. She led the zoning effort to preserve the existing balance between single family homes and duplexes. She then helped gauge resident interest and advocate successfully for a historic conservation zoning overlay to the Metro Council and Planning Commission. As a council member she worked successfully with the leaders of HWEN and BHN to expand their historic overlays and to influence proposed developments to ensure that they are consistent with the character of the neighborhood.
Burkley also worked to keep digital signs out of residential areas as co-chair of the city-wide Vice Mayor’s task force that examined Metro’s sign ordinance and LED technology. As a council member she expanded the regulated area to include all types of mixed-use zoning as well.
Burkley and friends helping to build a Habitat for Humanity house for Burkley's 50th birthday.
A strong supporter of public education, Burkley served on the West End Middle School PTO and as the school’s Hillsboro High School Cluster Representative. She has also worked with representatives of District 18’s private higher learning institutions to foster and maintain strong ties between district residents and those universities.
Burkley volunteers with several nonprofits in Nashville including Room in the Inn, the Martha O’Bryan Center and Habitat for Humanity. She celebrated her 50th birthday by rallying friends to join her on a Habitat build in North Nashville.
A long-time advocate for intercultural exchange, Burkley served as Vice President of the Sister Cities of Nashville Board of Directors, Chair of its Student Exchange Committee and has been a host mother for more than 24 international exchange students since 1993. Burkley also volunteered to help defeat the English Only legislation in 2008.
Burkley is a senior mechanical engineer at IC Thomasson Associates where she assists with the design of LEED-certified buildings and infrastructure planning. In this professional capacity, she served as a local chapter Chair and regional Vice-Chair of ASHRAE, the engineering society that developed the energy standards used in LEED certification of buildings. She also co-chaired the ASHRAE committee that brought hundreds of engineers from around the world to Nashville for the society’s summer meeting.
Burkley earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Davidson College in 1980 and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 1982. She received the Davidson College Alumni Service Award in 2010.