About Marie Shanley
Online Advocacy
For seven years I hosted two live-streamed shows a week, gaming or interviewing mental health subject matter experts, including Q+A using questions coming in live from viewers.
That experience built up a Twitch Partnership, a blog, a book, public speaking engagements, industry panels, MIT-published research and more.
Today, I continue to be an active member of online mental health and local equity non-profit boards.
Professional Career
While at Sesame Workshop (the Non-profit behind Sesame Street), I was lucky enough to lead an inspiring 6-person social impact content development team as their editorial program manager.
In partnership with giants like Google.org, Walmart.org, PNC, the US Dept of Defense and adorable Muppets, the team delivered industry leading, award-winning content on subjects like mental health, military family mental health, parental addiction, grief, digital well-being and more. Helping caregivers from the US and across the world build a better offline world for children, inspired me to want to build a better digital future for children too. So I set out to combine my offline and online tenure into a way to accomplish just that.
A Future in Child Advocacy and Digital Well-being Policy
I'm currently pursuing my MA in Child Advocacy and Policy at Montclair State University (through Fall 2027) to transition my 12 years of research, communications, outreach, and program management experience into policy work.
Having worked in digital spaces in mental health advocacy and digital well-being for over a decade, I know the value of modern technology in the democratization of information, upward mobility and socialization for marginalized identities.
Families, innovators and governments shouldn’t be forced into knee-jerk, fear based reactions towards games, AI use or digital safety. Rather, they deserve to be informed and prepared with strong moral codes that inform them both as citizens and consumers. Technology can be an incredible connector and resource for resilience. Connected families deserve mindful policy that reflects their true needs, and aides long-term social congruence.
That’s what I am setting out to build next.