About Shelby

My SUPERPOWER is my heart, my license plate literally reads, GIV LUV…

I was born in San Francisco, CA, and spent my summers and formative years roller-skating down the cracked sidewalks in front of my grandparents modest East San Jose home, catching tadpoles in the creek around the way, reading dog-eared paperbacks from the local library in the shade of Josephine Young’s sweet-smelling jasmine, and playing hide-and-seek with a group of neighborhood kids who resembled one of those Benetton ads of yesteryear, albeit a bit more rough around the edges.

Sounds idyllic, I know…but there was certainly more to my life than what appeared on the surface - isn’t that always the case?

The raw and uncut version certainly includes more than what I’ll share through this medium, but suffice it to say, the canvas upon which my life thus far has been lived features prominently my identity as a Black woman in America…as equally alluring and beautiful, as it has been searingly traumatizing.

Both the beauty and trauma of life’s offerings have shaped me into a human being simply trying to live a fully authentic life while tackling some of the problems plaguing the human condition.

My internal compass, intellectually or otherwise, naturally draws me towards service as the guiding pillar influencing my life and work…it’s my birthright! I come from a long line of women who as maids, childcare providers, midwives, church founders, union leaders, community organizers, teachers, and nurses lived their lives in service to others. The Honorable Shirley Chisholm once said, “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.” That is exactly the legacy I hail from…the voices of my ancestors continue to whisper to me in my dreams.

I have spent the past two decades as a consultant, convener, strategic disrupter, and I humbly hope, transformative visionary helping people, teams, and companies own their stories, create sacred spaces that build intentional community, and tap curiously into the best of our humanity in order to heal, explore, and ultimately break down barriers to justice, equity, and inclusion.