Shelly Brown

Startable Program Manager

Shelly Brown serves as the Startable Program Manager, the youth entrepreneurship initiative of Innovation Works.

Shelly spent her early professional career as a Pittsburgh Police Officer and was in the first cohort of Community Oriented Police Officers, learning the value of the community’s voice and the need for greater advocacy for children and families impacted by domestic violence and homelessness.  She channeled that awareness into supporting children and families as a board member for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Homeless Children’s Education Fund.

Shelly enjoys introducing young people to new challenges in STEM and exposing them to emergent entrepreneurial opportunities. Shelly has a storied career path dedicated to service, community, and education with a special love for science and technology outreach. She is a certified teacher and has taught from pre-k through post-secondary levels, including her current work as an adjunct professor at Pennsylvania State University.

Shelly is a lifelong resident of Western Pennsylvania and a proud graduate of Clairton High School, and Duquesne University where she is in the final stages of completing a doctorate in Educational Leadership on the topic of The Impact of Mentoring on the Persistence Black Women in Engineering. Shelly and her husband, Emmett, have four children and love being grandparents to Jack and Zoe, and pack leader to their two dogs.