Shadiin (she/her) is Chicana and Laguna Pueblo from New Mexico and has worked for over 20 years as a teacher, as a public school administrator, researcher, a policy analyst, Indigenous education leader, and as a consultant.
She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University in English with a specialization in education; a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and a PhD in Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education from the University of Oregon. Shadiin has a huge extended family including high school- and elementary-aged children, 59 first cousins, and 19 aunts and uncles.
Shadiin’s work centers on organizational change; culturally relevant and sustaining curriculum; diversity, equity, and belonging; educational and systemic equity; culturally appropriate research; and community driven systemic change. She served as the Deputy Director of Policy and Research at Oregon’s Chief Education Office where she helped develop a research agenda driven by culturally appropriate practices and Indigenous methodologies for improving key educational outcomes. She served as the Director of Educator Advancement Council leading initiatives to diversify the educator workforce and improve teacher educator systems. With funding from Meyer Memorial Trust, she launched Oregon’s statewide American Indian/Alaska Native Educational Professional Learning Community. Dr. Garcia is board chair of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon and is currently an Executive Vice President at the Metropolitan Group.
Through her work both professionally and personally, she has cultivated a network of amazing people who navigate across multiple systems and spaces – public, private, sovereign nations/tribes, non-profit, government, P-20, higher education and more. She often collaborates within these networks of experts, thinkers, and advocates which bring multiple minds and approaches to bear on complex topics.
In starting her own consultant business, Shorelines Consulting, she chose a name that is congruent with her values – sovereignty, solidarity, and community. Shorelines reference a natural confluence of water and land. It evokes an ever-changing landscape that offers multiple access points to Oregon’s stunning geography. She believes that like our shores, our systems of education and organizations must offer myriad opportunities and options for people that honor the unique interests, cultures, languages, and aspirations of each individual and/or community. Shadiin uses that concept to ground her work — by believing in co-constructing solutions grounded in equity and local context.
