Shelley Feist is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit interim executive with experience in philanthropy and the Federal legislative branch.
From April 2023 to June 2024 Shelley served as interim executive director of the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions (the Alliance) where she worked on board development, organizational value proposition, and the hiring of a new executive director.
Shelley was executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education where she focused on developing and delivering evidence-based content and digital campaigns; growing a national network of health and food safety educators; and organizational development and effectiveness. In this role she appeared on national broadcasts and in the consumer print media, and collaborated regularly with senior leaders of the US Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
At the philanthropic Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia, PA, Shelley helped develop a national culture program strategy and managed grantee relationships with leading U.S. arts, humanities and academic institutions. Through a series of live convenings and analysis of cultural policy in the United States, the program produced the report, Policy Partners: Making the Case for State Investments in Culture. The program made investments of $12 million in arts and cultural research and public broadcasting.
Shelley has worked for two U.S. senators supporting their work on the Senate Appropriations Committee and domestic policy issues.
As Director of Government Liaison and Special Assistant to the President at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Shelley played an active role in the development and passage of legislation that consolidated operational authority at the Center and led to Federal appropriations for maintenance, renovation, and educational programming.
Shelley graduated with a BS degree in communications from Minnesota State University, Moorhead, MN. She participated in the Fall 2022 cohort of the Interim Executive Director training at The Support Center, New York.
She serves as a managing director of DCM Associates, a firm specializing in executive leadership search, and as a consultant to nonprofit and philanthropic organizations on content strategy and leadership narrative support.
She was raised on a ranch in central North Dakota and has lived and worked in Washington for more than 30 years.
LinkedIn Profile: Shelley Feist