Our Team

Shelby is a research leader and social justice advocate from Southeast Seattle. As a Data and Evaluation Lead at King County’s Children Youth and Young Adult Division, she supports an amazing team providing applied research, data-capacity, and community accountability, across initiatives in child care, education, restorative justice, and transitions to adulthood. Previously, she led Seattle Public Schools’ research portfolio for the Office of African American Male Achievement and established the research function at the Community Center for Education Results as the Director of Research.

With a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in child social development, Shelby has consulted on anti-racism in schools for Learning for Justice and CNN’s AC360. Her prior roles include applied research in early literacy at NYU and Child Trends’ D.C. Public School’s Head Start Evaluation. Her work has been featured in the Seattle Times, NPR, and utilized in local legislative advocacy.

Shelby also serves on the Washington Education Research Association as an elected board member and holds positions as a Senior Fellow with Education Northwest and Adjunct Faculty at Seattle University, where she teaches advanced research methods in the Ed.D. program.