Shannon Fitzgerald
O’Shea ’01 MAIR
Programme Specialist, Post-2015 Development Agenda Unit
Office of the Executive Director
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Shannon Fitzgerald O’Shea is currently a Programme
Specialist in the Post-2015 Development Agenda Unit in the Office of the
Executive Director at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Originally
from Berlin, CT, and now residing in New York City, Shannon holds an MAIR from
the Maxwell School, as well as a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse
University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
UNICEF is the United Nations’
agency for children, working in over 150 countries across the world with the
overall objective to see that every child’s rights are fulfilled through their
survival, health, development, safety and education. Shannon started
working for UNICEF three weeks after finishing her MAIR coursework at Maxwell
in June 2001 and has been with the organization ever since. For a number of
years, Shannon worked on internal knowledge sharing and communications for the
organization--with UNICEF being in so many places, how does the organization
ensure that staff in field offices have the information they need, when they
need it? For example, Shannon says, “I set up the very first intranet
sites for programme-related information (e.g. on child survival, education,
child protection, etc) for programme specialists in the field. Before
that, the intranet was more or less just a space to look up someone’s phone
number or email address.” Shannon also started a research alert service for
staff globally to keep them informed on the latest and most important reports,
studies and research in their area of work, covering nine subject areas every
month.
In February 2012, Shannon was
asked to be part of a team in UNICEF's Executive Office to work over the next
few years on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, under the leadership
of Senior Advisor Richard Morgan. “This is actually a very exciting and once-in-a-generation
opportunity to help define what the next Global Development Agenda -- to follow
on from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- should look like,” she says.
There are two main goals of the Post-2015
team in UNICEF. The first is to help bring in and amplify the voices of various
people in the debate and mobilize them to help define what the next agenda
should look like – Civil Society, Academics, Activists, Government, and the
Private Sector, to name a few. Shannon explains that there would be a
“bottom up” approach to defining development priorities based on what people
actually want and need in their own lives and communities. Already much
has been done here. For example, as part of the UN System, UNICEF helped
to lead 5 global thematic consultations and was involved in some of the 85+
consultations happening in various countries through its strong field presence
at the national level. Shannon helped to design and lead the consultation
on Addressing Inequalities (which UNICEF
co-convened with UN Women). These consultations were used as a major
source of input for the report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level
Panel on Post 2015, chaired by the Presidents of Liberia and Indonesia as
well as the Prime Minister of the UK. Their report was released at end of May.
The second goal is to ensure that issues of
importance not addressed or under-represented in the MDG Agenda – particularly
those affecting children and youth – are adequately addressed in the Post-2015
Agenda. For example, this would include issues such as addressing
growing inequalities (both within and between countries), protection
from violence (particularly for women and girls) and sustainable
development (the intersection of economic and social development with
environmental sustainability and how this affects people, prosperity and the
planet.)
A typical day for Shannon involves “a lot of
communications and advocacy” – for example, Shannon was very involved in
crafting UNICEF’s key
messages on Post-2015 and also
worked on the paper that
positions children centrally in the discussions on Sustainable
Development (as both
drivers of sustainable development and the people with the most to gain…or
lose). Shannon also keeps UNICEF’s 10,000+ staff informed through a
regular newsletter and running a Community of Practice. There are lots of
meetings with key stakeholders -- from government, civil society,
academia -- to discuss and debate issues, bring forward the voices
and aspirations of those typically excluded and, of course, to advocate for the
issues that most affect children and young people. “I am particularly
proud of the work we did on the global thematic consultation on
Addressing Inequalities,” Shannon says. “We were able to mobilize
thousands of people to contribute to the debate, and the voices that were heard
went far beyond the ‘usual suspects’ who typically are offered the opportunity.
The Post-2015 work is unprecedented and uncharted territory for the UN system –
to truly and meaningfully engage and mobilize millions of people at every stage
of the process in crafting what the next era of development should look like.
I am excited to be a part of it.”
Shannon says one of the most interesting
aspects of working for an organization like UNICEF is the opportunity to travel
and see so many different cultures and societies. “I travelled to Myanmar
in 2007, when it was still under military dictatorship and very closed off from the world.
It was both eye-opening and humbling to see how the people there craved
information – about the outside world – but also about issues like health and
education,” she says. “The freedom we enjoy to have access to information is
something almost taken for granted here in the United States, but it is
certainly not a given in many parts of the world.”
Having attended SU as both an undergrad
minoring in political science and as a graduate student, Shannon reflects
fondly on her Maxwell memories. “As a freshman in the ‘Critical Issues for the United States’ course, I remember one of
the first assignments was to read the book “Savage Inequalities” by Jonathan
Kozol -- about the massive inequalities persistent throughout the public
education system in the US. It is something that still sticks with me
today, especially in my current work on Post-2015 and co-leading the thematic
consultation Addressing Inequalities,” Shannon says. “When inequalities are so
wide and persistent, it’s not just bad for those ‘affected’ – it is bad for all
of society. Furthermore, this is not just an issue for so-called
‘developing countries.’ It’s a problem for many rich nations as well.”
As for her favorite Maxwell professors,
Shannon enjoyed Ambassador Goodwin Cooke’s classes, particularly his amazing
stories about being a foreign service officer and Ambassador in the Central
Africa Republic. She added, “In graduate school, Ambassador Melvyn
Levitsky was great in challenging students to think about issues in a different
way – he also really helped me with public speaking and I still remember and
use his tips today!”
Her advice for current Maxwell
students? Always take any assignment you are tasked
with -- no matter if it is seemingly menial -- and do a great job at it. “We
all have aspects of our work that are not the most glamorous, but still need to
get done. When you are assigned something, don’t just take the task
‘literally’ – think about what is the ultimate goal or objective that
is supposed to be achieved and apply your judgment, knowledge and
personal and professional experience on how to best accomplish the task.
Don’t be afraid to suggest a different way to do something. Even if
ultimately not chosen, most supervisors will appreciate fresh ideas and the
fact that you are thinking about the most efficient or effective way to
accomplish a goal.” She says, “In terms of applying for jobs, I think we all
know there is no magic bullet. Make good contacts at organizations you
want to work at and do internships whenever possible. For working at the
UN, I often suggest looking at short-term consultancy positions as a way to
gain experience that can ultimately lead to a more permanent position.
Apply for these types of assignments. It is a combination of perseverance
and a bit of luck -- being in the right place at the right time.”
Shannon can be reached at soshea@unicef.org.