Shawna is a passionate leader in education who started her career as a teacher and then served as the executive director of the Scratch Foundation, Duke Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) and MIT Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES). She dedicated her career to providing children from diverse communities with meaningful learning experiences that help them develop the skills needed to become leaders and innovators. Shawna has deep experience in leading and advising businesses, philanthropies, and nonprofit organizations, expanding fundraising networks, creating innovative programs and facilitating multidimensional processes.

After years of experiencing the continued marginalization of Black people, Shawna realized that her work in educational access as a classroom teacher and nonprofit leader had only moved the needle incrementally. She turned my attention to understanding the root causes of the lack of Black freedom and wealth in her community and country, as a co-founder of Onyx.

Why Mo-saiq

Shawna is wholeheartedly committed to the mission of Mo-saiq. Her upbringing, surrounded by role models within her family and her hometown of Fayetteville, NC, as well as her college experience at Howard University, instilled in her the value of reaching beyond the boundaries of her lived experiences when pursuing her career aspirations. Throughout her remarkable career journey, she has remained dedicated to advancing equitable access across diverse domains, including education, nonprofit leadership, and STEM fields. Shawna’s unwavering commitment is in perfect alignment with Mo-saiq’s vision, making her a driving force behind our mission to empower diverse changemakers.