Meet Shannon Hawkins

A visionary and purpose-driven leader, Shannon has dedicated her career to partnering with children, families, and communities to counter the narratives of historically marginalized communities by strengthening emotional resilience and communal wellness and disrupting toxic stress through her work. She is the Founder and CEO of Leading A(head) Collaborative, an equity-centered organization whose mission is to co-create healing-centered learning communities to dismantle systemic, intergenerational trauma in schools, homes, and districts so that children can grow up whole, fulfill their purpose, and create generational change. Ultimately, as children’s social and emotional development and their community caregivers’ wellness is prioritized, schools and communities become places of healing, and our children can learn in a reservoir of healing and support. 

Shannon is a decade-long educator specializing in policy and advocacy, culturally-responsive student-centered learning,  transformational family engagement, and healing-centered trauma-informed practices. Shannon previously served at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation. She oversaw the programmatic design and implementation of work-based learning initiatives and created equitable access to high-growth, in-demand careers and post-secondary opportunities across the K-12 continuum. Before joining the Governor’s office, Shannon served as a founding assistant principal, school director, instructional coach, and award-winning elementary teacher. As a teacher, Shannon designed a mentorship program to support students through leadership development and student reflection workshops. In 2016, she was honored with the “Impactful Teacher” award for being "the kind of teacher that leaves a lasting, positive impression on her students forever."  

 She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Penn State University, a Master of Education Administration in Curriculum & Supervision from the University of Oklahoma, and a Master of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education in Human Development and Psychology with a specialty in Child Advocacy. Additionally, Shannon has been awarded numerous awards and fellowships for her social innovation work and advocacy. Fellowships include LEE Public Policy, Harvard Dean’s Education Fellow, 4.0 Schools Essentials & Tiny Fellow, Teach for America Social Innovation Cohort, Harvard Innovation Lab Fellow, Builders + Backers, The GovLab’s Solving Public Problems Accelerator, and a semi-finalist for the President’s Innovation Challenge at Harvard University.

Speaking Topics Include: communal care and wellness, family and community engagement, student-centered engagement, culturally responsive teaching, cultivating healing-centered schools and learning environments, transformative school and organizational climate and culture, nurturing confident and purpose-driven youth, developing nourishing human-centered systems in toxic environments

Speaking Engagements

  • 2023 National Family Engagement Summit, National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE) https://nfesummit.com/

  • 2022 Zarrow Mental Health Symposium  Exploring Family Constructs https://www.zarrowsymposium.org/ 

    Session Title: Bringing Back the Village: Co-creating a Village of Healing and Support

  • 2022 Alumni of Color Conference, Harvard Graduate School of Education Passing the Torch of Knowledge: Movements Toward Liberation Through Education https://aocc.gse.harvard.edu/

  • 2021 Alumni of Color Conference, Harvard Graduate School of Education Immunity in Community: Resilience in the Face of a Double Pandemic https://aocc.gse.harvard.edu/

    Session Title: The Privilege of Grief: Interrupting the Relationship between Privilege and Grief

“The system under which we now exist has to be radically changed...It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you change the system.”

Ella Baker