International Rescue Committee’s Deputy Director for Advocacy, Shannon Meehan has spent more than 17 years working in conflict zones around the world. As Deputy Director of Advocacy at the IRC, Shannon is responsible for covering the IRC’s policy priorities for the continent of Africa. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal from 1989 - 1991, Shannon went on to represent the American Refugee Committee International (ARC) in Guinea and later Kosovo, where she served as Country Director, designing and implementing a multi-sector and cross-ethnic program that reached more than 100,000 beneficiaries. When she was a consultant for Refugees International and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Shannon conducted missions in Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Sudan, the DRC, Rwanda and in the Middle East: Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq. She is an expert on the humanitarian and protection needs of displaced populations and refugees. Her humanitarian work was highlighted in the book, Those Who Dare, by Katherine Martin (2004). She is a graduate of the University of Oregon, 1988 with a BS in History and Economics.