Shelley Whelpton brings over 15 years of experience in the areas of non-profit program leadership, volunteer development, communications, and advocacy to The Sheridan Group.

Shelley comes to The Sheridan Group from AYUSA International, a high school youth exchange program. AYUSA recruits high school students from 80 countries around the world and matches them with volunteer host families across America for a year home stay. As AYUSA's Executive Director, Shelley oversaw the program operations, including: development; volunteer recruitment and oversight; US Department of State regulatory compliance; and mobilization of host families for advocacy. Shelley developed and led a coalition of youth exchange programs to secure U.S. Department of State funding for a bridge-building post 9/11 exchange initiative with the Middle East. Funded by the Cultural Bridges Act of 2002, this program brings 600 students to the United States from predominately Muslim countries each academic year.

At the Sheridan Group, Shelley is responsible for the firm's business development and provides strategic leadership and management on emerging initiatives. Shelley was the organization's lead on the launch of the America Forward campaign, a coalition of leading social entrepreneurs advocating for federal policy changes to support greater innovation and accountability in the non-profit sector. Shelley managed a bipartisan political and communications campaign team to ensure that goals were achieved, including national press coverage and presidential candidate endorsement. Shelley was the lead investigator and writer of KaBOOM!'s 2009 Play Matters Report, a study of municipal best practices in support of children's play.

Shelley's volunteer and civic work has been focused on youth-related causes. She is an Advisory Board member of Running Start, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing political leadership training for young women and girls. As a volunteer, as well as professionally in her youth exchange work, Shelley has conducted seminars on effective public speaking. Shelley is a board member of Playworks in Washington DC.

Shelley has her undergraduate degree from Williams College and holds a Masters in Education from Boston University.

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