Shannon Sullivan

Shannon is the Regions 1 & 2 Facilitation and Development Supervisor. In this role, she develops
innovative and accessible training and supports, empowering those caring for and serving families
and communities to provide anti-racist, culturally relevant, trauma informed service. Shannon has
been a champion working passionately for child welfare with the State of Washington and
community partners in improving outcomes for children and families focusing on permanency for
children.

Shannon began her career in April 1994 in Community Behavioral Health, where she taught persons
with behavioral health to understand, monitor, and regulate symptomology. In May 2001, Shannon
transitioned her career to working for Children’s Administration as a Child Welfare Services and
Child Protective Services Investigator worker in Richland. Shannon also represented the
Department in many additional roles, including working on The Juvenile Action Team with the
Kennewick Police Department and Kennewick School District; serving on the Benton and Franklin
Counties Domestic Violence Committee; participating on the Period of Purple Crying Task Force;
serving on the Commercial Sex Trafficking Task Force Steering Committee for Benton and Franklin
Counties; and co-developing the first Family Treatment Court for Benton and Franklin counties. In
September 2004, Shannon was promoted to a Child Protective Services Supervisory position,
where she supervised various positions, including Intake, CPS Investigators, Family Assessment
Response, Family Voluntary Service, and Share Planning Meeting Facilitators.

In January 2018, Shannon advanced her career by accepting a Focused Coach position with the
Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence with the University of Washington (now known as Alliance for
Professional Development, Training and Caregiver Excellence). Shannon is passionate about
training and supporting newly hired social workers, program managers, supervisors and
administrators.

Shannon earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington State University and her
master’s degree in social work from Eastern Washington University as a CWTAP student. In
addition to her work for The Alliance, Shannon earned her certificate in private investigation in 2016
at the University of Washington, which is the nation’s No. 1 rated civilian investigative educational
program.