Shelley has over 20 years of experience as a writer, researcher and policy expert on a wide range of issues affecting the lives of children and families. Blending her expertise in strategy, research, policy and communications, she advises leading philanthropies across the country, including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Lumina Foundation.

With a passion for collaboration and integrative design thinking, Shelley works to bridge people, ideas and actions to leverage diverse expertise in creating positive change for families. She is a national expert on two-generation approaches to alleviating poverty for low-income families, working with philanthropy, state governments and nonprofits to help them better align family services. She is also a key advisor on creating bipartisan strategies—finding common ground and creating momentum on policy action. Additionally, she leads a funder collaborative with philanthropic leaders from multiple sectors to invest in cross-cutting strategies aimed at improving the lives of youth and young adults.

Through past positions at the Urban Institute and the New America Foundation, she has published extensively on a wide range of issues concerning children, work and family. Time spent at leading advocacy organizations, including the Children’s Defense Fund and Parents Action for Children, provided experience managing policy and communications campaigns, running coalitions and crafting new policy ideas.

Shelley has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Furman University in South Carolina and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. She is married to Mike and is mom to her adored children: Carlin and Owen.