Shelby French
Executive Director, The International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA)
Biography
Shelby has 20 years of experience in the fields of NGO management and development, social service provision, economic and community development, and the identification and treatment of trauma in vulnerable populations. Currently she is the Executive Director for The International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA) and before that served on the IOFA board for three years. For over four years, she worked for The Rotary Foundation first as the Program Officer for Humanitarian Grants, and then as their Economic and Community Development Specialist.
Shelby also worked for seven years with CARE in the area of resource development, as the manager for CARE’s first overseas volunteer program and as an emergency response team member in East Timor and Eritrea. Additionally, Shelby has served as the social services manager for the anti-trafficking program at Heartland Alliance and as a therapist for multi-cultural populations, working with victims and offenders of sexual abuse and violence at the Center for Contextual Change. She has an MA in social work from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, and a Master of Science in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Shelby has traveled and worked in over 30 countries. She currently co-teaches a class on the issues of child trafficking for the School of Social Work at Loyola University.