Dr. Shannon Wheatley Hartman is the Board Chair and President of the Interactivity Foundation (IF), where she leads with the deep belief that we think better when we think together. Since joining IF as a Fellow in 2010, Shannon has played a central role in shaping the organization’s mission and programs—previously serving as Director of Education and Vice President before stepping into her current role in 2023.
At the heart of Shannon’s work is the conviction that democracy thrives when people have the skills, mindsets, and opportunities to engage in collaborative discussion. She co-developed IF’s Collaborative Discussion Project and continues to guide programs that make deliberative democracy more engaging, more joyful, and more human. From sustained dialogues on the future of citizenship to resources that bring humor and hope into civic life, her efforts are aimed at building public capacity for shared inquiry and democratic co-creation.
Shannon is also committed to what she calls radical engagement—a practice shaped early in her work at the U.S./Mexico border and sustained through years of participatory programming in classrooms and communities. She coined the term “everyday cosmopolitanism” to describe the small, daily acts of care that help life go on and build bridges across differences. These ideas inform both her leadership and scholarship, which includes publications on participatory action research (PAR), deliberative democracy, and border politics.
Before joining IF, Shannon was a Lecturer in International Relations at Arizona State University, where she was honored as Teacher of the Year by the School of Politics and Global Studies. She has also taught at Drexel University, Kansas State University, College Unbound, and Haverford College.
Shannon calls many places home, and currently lives in Haverford, Pennsylvania with her family.
