Bio, via Department of Health and Human Services:

Shannon Christian serves as the Director of the Office of Child Care at HHS’ Administration for Children and Families. She is a former Associate Commissioner of the former Child Care Bureau at ACF, where she advanced President Bush’s Good Start, Grow Smart early childhood initiative, and shaped the office’s research agenda to better support state policy and spending decisions. Committed to effective prevention strategies, Shannon oversaw the launch of Illinois’ home visiting program and was an active board member of Be Strong Families, a Chicago-based national nonprofit. Earlier in her career, Shannon was part of former Wisconsin Governor (and HHS secretary) Tommy Thompson’s welfare reform team, serving as head of the planning section in the state Health & Social Services Department’s Office of Policy and Budget, and as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Workforce Development. Shannon has an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a certificate in nonprofit management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business, and an undergraduate degree in economics and international relations from California State University, Chico.