DENVER—The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) announces Chris Shannon has joined the organization as its new vice president of external affairs. In this role, Shannon will lead communications, marketing and public affairs efforts through the planning and implementation of strategies that successfully represent and connect audiences to NEFE, optimizing its impact.
“We’re so pleased to welcome Chris to our team. She brings a level of insight that our field needs—one that enables us to best serve our community though advocacy, understanding and serving new audiences, and expanding the reach of our portfolio of work,” says Billy Hensley, Ph.D., president and CEO of NEFE.
Shannon brings a strong background in leveraging community outreach and engagement strategies to promote economic growth in lower-income communities. Prior to joining NEFE, Shannon was deputy director of regional and community outreach at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. During her tenure, she implemented and managed a high-school internship program, Today’s Interns, Tomorrow’s Professionals, and managed efforts to align job seekers’ financial well-being with the department’s mission to economic growth and equity in New England’s lower-income communities. Shannon has over 20 years of experience in instructional design, youth programming and workforce development.
“My work with NEFE started long before this moment as I’ve leveraged NEFE offerings when working with hundreds of educators, nonprofit staff and private sector volunteers,” says Shannon.
Shannon’s leadership has been recognized on state and national levels, having served on multiple initiatives across the U.S. She is a contributing editor for the Investing in America’s Workforce chapter, “Strategies to Advance Job Quality,” the 2003 Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board’s Regional Blueprint, among other publications, and has contributed content for online blogs and publications including What Color is Your Parachute? for Teens.
“I am thrilled to join NEFE at this pivotal time as NEFE looks to shifts its role in a way that is more forward-thinking and strategic in nature,” says Shannon.
Shannon has a Master of Fine Arts in directing from Virginia Commonwealth University and two undergraduate degrees from the University of Delaware in secondary education, English and theatre.
For more on NEFE’s leadership, click here.