Shawn Gaines

Shawn Gaines is an Associate Directors for Equity at work at Beloved Community. Shawn’s academic background is in organizational communication, higher education administration with a focus on counseling and helping skills. Shawn is passionate about creating space for folx on the margins. His work has primarily focused on higher education settings and supervising large teams to meet organizational objectives. His passion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has been driven by the love and support he received from his parents. Shawn worked at Tulane University for 5 years as a Resident Director. In this capacity, he trained and supervised staff, chaired departmental recruitment and selection efforts and served as a crisis management first responder. This blend of experiences was always underpinned with an emphasis on justice and equity.

Most recently, Shawn worked at Washington University in St. Louis, as an Assistant Director of Residential Education specifically managing 5 Residential College Directors and overseeing staff selection and retention. As Shawn moved through these experiences, questions around equitable outcomes and diverse representation continued to come up. Shawn, seeks to push the boundaries of what is common/best practice in organizations to prompt real sustainable change around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.