Shelley comes from a family of eight children. Her parents were phenomenally hard-working individuals whom she respected deeply. For most of her early family life, her family lived in poverty. Because her parents could not afford the cost of university, she worked three part-time jobs while attending university full-time. She received her undergraduate degree from Acadia University and then pursued her Masters level work in Grief Counselling before entering the realm of Business and Finance and developed her passion of Student Financial Assistance.
Shelley is currently employed as the Director of Financial Aid at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Fredericton Campus. In this position, Shelley has been extensively involved in the fields of Student Services and Student Financial Assistance, both in the Atlantic region and nationally.
Her current passion is working towards positive measures to improve access of information to all aspects of student funding and working with many stakeholders on solving the issue of excessive student loan debt.
Shelley has held positions on several university student services organizations at the Atlantic and Canadian levels.
She has always been convinced that education is a key factor to ending the cycle of poverty.
Shelley lives in Fredericton.