People
The Firebelly Family is a tight knit collective of strategists, designers, writers and developers working hard to change the world.
- meet the team
- Dawn Hancock, Owner + Creative Director
- Will Miller, Art Director
- Darren McPherson, Designer
- Charlie Smith, Motion Designer
- Shannon Medic, Program Director
- Alex Killough, Senior Web Engineer
- Name: Shannon Medic
- Title: Program Director
- Loves: Putting Ideas To Work
- Musical Inclination: Guitar + Piano
- Moonlights As: Bartender
Shannon never stops. As Reason To Give’s first full-time employee, Shannon is dedicated to growing our nonprofit program and improving the lives of Humboldt Park’s underserved community.
Shannon came to Firebelly through AmeriCorps’ Public Allies program. The organization pairs talented young people with local nonprofits to prepare them for careers working for community and social change.
Connecting across cultures, collaborating with other nonprofits and corporate partners and managing all the program’s outreach efforts, Shannon engages the community and mobilizes efforts for even greater public awareness and support for Reason To Give.
A self-motivated workhorse, Shannon constantly finds: new ways to improve the giving experience, more sustainable solutions to help the community and smarter, more efficient methods to manage the whole thing. Her determination inspires the entire studio.
While her communications background has helped her lead advertising and promotional campaigns, Shannon's professional career really started when she began working for social justice and advocating for change.
Shannon finds inspiration in “all the people who generally go unheard”. From organizing for women's rights in D.C. to campaigning against the sex trade and human trafficking in Juárez, Mexico, Shannon is especially interested in ending violence against women.
Although she never takes a break from fighting “isms”, Shannon does find time to unwind with yoga, kickboxing and running her own fantasy football league. But in the back of her mind are always plans for launching her own nonprofit one day.
A Chicago-native, Shannon makes a point to travel to at least one place a year where she’s never been. Italia is her favorite so far. In fact, she named her miniature dachshund Vienna… well, that might also be because the pup looks like a hot dog.
Shannon’s got more degrees than any of us! She holds a BA in Communications from the University of Chicago and Italy’s University of Florence (where she also minored in Women's Studies) and a Master’s degree in International Studies and Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies from DePaul University.