Shawn Gifford

Shawn Gifford has extensive experience in information technology infrastructure and systems. Shawn began their career as a Network Engineer at PTC Select in 1999 and later worked as a Senior Network Engineer at Heart Technologies, Inc. from 2004 to 2014. In 2014, Gifford joined Consulting for Morton Community Bank as a SAN/VMware Network Administrator, where they administered storage systems, managed VMWare infrastructure, and performed network administration tasks. Gifford then worked as a Systems Administrator at Pearl Technology from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, they joined Illinois Mutual as a Senior IT Infrastructure Team Lead, where they supervised a team of professionals, led projects, administered systems, and coordinated various IT efforts. Gifford later became the Information Technology Infrastructure Manager at Illinois Mutual in 2021. Currently, Gifford holds the role of Assistant Vice President of Information Systems at The Baby Fold since 2023.

Shawn Gifford's education history includes multiple degrees and certifications. Shawn attended Morton High School from 1993 to 1997. After high school, Shawn transferred to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 1997 to 1999, studying Engineering Mechanics. Later, they pursued a degree in IT Management at Western Governors University from 2018 to 2021, focusing on Business, IT, and Cloud Administration. Additionally, Shawn obtained several certifications throughout their career. These include "Confronting Bias: Thriving Across Our Differences" from LinkedIn in March 2021, CCDA from Cisco in August 2006, CCNA from Cisco in October 2004, MCSE from Microsoft in August 2004, Network+ from CompTIA in September 2002, Server+ from CompTIA in January 2001, and A+ from CompTIA in October 2000.