SHALENA BROADNAX
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
Master of Arts, May 2013
Strategic Communications for Community-Based Organization
Bio and Resume (.pdf)
Shalena Broadnax is committed to her native hometown of Brooklyn, NY. Born and raised in one of the most economically depressed communities in New York City, Shalena quickly realized the injustices faced by low-income families and challenges faced by community-based organizations with limited resources to meet the needs of their neighborhood. She is taking her knowledge of community organizing, branding, messaging, and storytelling to leverage opportunities for grassroots social entrepreneurs, and amplify the voice of community-based organizations at large.
Shalena began her social justice path at the age of 17, when she launched grassroots campaigns, trained youth activists and advocates, and ran workshops across the country on various social issues such as juvenile justice, reproductive rights, and access to quality education. During this time, Shalena was featured on a nationally syndicated show on CNN to discuss her efforts in educating low-income students and parents about alternatives to the military. She spent the next few years working on youth leadership with organizations like The Door, Global Kids, Scenarios USA, and Save the Children-Malawi, which focus on strengthening communities and developing next generation talent.
In 2008, Shalena joined Echoing Green, an organization that supports over 500 social entrepreneurs and aspiring changemakers to develop careers with social impact. There, she was able to thrive at the crossroads of social change and communications, and played a key role in the organization's rebranding and marketing initiatives.
Shalena aims to support grassroots social entrepreneurs and community-based organizations in creating a consistent organizational brand and message, leveraging media opportunities, as well as internal and external communication strategies in times of crisis. She believes this will even the playing field for smaller social enterprises and organizations by allowing them to tap into greater resources and strengthen their relationship with supporters.
Shalena was the recipient of the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship and StartingBloc New York Fellowship. She currently serves on a number of nonprofit boards and partners with youth-serving organizations by mentoring young people in developing social change careers.