Shannon has dedicated her legal career to encouraging attorneys to give back through pro bono service and ensuring that those in need of assistance have access to high quality legal representation. Prior to joining the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project, Shannon worked with the DC Bar Pro Bono Center as the staff attorney and training manager for pro bono programs. As a staff attorney with the ABA, Shannon recruits law firms to represent indigent death-sentenced prisoners in post-conviction proceedings as pro bono counsel and assists with efforts to reform capital defender systems through systemic litigation and implementation of the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases.
In her spare time, Shannon volunteers with other local legal services organizations providing brief legal information and advice to people living in poverty. She currently serves as Project Director of Clean Slate DC, a local initiative that uses technology to assist reentry citizens. Recognizing the need for more legal transparency, She created the Clean Slate DC initiative geared at simplifying laws for public education on criminal record sealing and developed a website to assist in determining eligibility for sealing. She is also a founding member of the Rebuilding Re-entry Coalition a network of governmental, non-governmental agencies, and grassroots, citizen-led movements aimed at promoting the values of technology for social good, impact through coalition and stories igniting empathy.
Shannon received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and her Juris Doctor from Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa.