Shannon co-founded Local Works Global and leads its advisory services practice, guiding foundations, companies, and organizations to apply locally led approaches in designing high-impact investments, strengthening sustainability, and advancing systems-level change. She builds partnership models that combine innovative financing with equity-driven practices, and contributes to network engagement and grantmaking work alongside her broader strategy and advisory responsibilities.

Shannon brings more than 15 years of experience in network strategy, locally led program design, sustainable financing, and inclusive governance. At USAID, she directed a locally led development innovation program across 25 countries, supporting solutions that leveraged local assets and capacity to tackle complex challenges. This work scaled initiatives through catalytic financing and government integration, mobilized over $50M in public and private capital, and developed models that advanced Agency-wide practice on partner feedback systems and engagement with Indigenous communities. Earlier in her career, she partnered with governments, UN agencies, private sector actors, and multi-stakeholder coalitions to strengthen civil society’s role in governance and national development, creating inclusive systems for local actors to influence and lead in policy, budgeting, and planning decisions.

Shannon holds a M.A. in International Affairs from the Geneva Graduate Institute, and a B.A. in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. Shannon has spent most of the past 15 years living outside the U.S., endlessly fascinated by learning about new cultures and ways of life. In her free time, she enjoys street photography, insight meditation, and getting lost in nature.