Shannon D. Smith has worked for over 35 years in leadership roles within higher education, public humanities, and non-profits. An outspoken ally and advocate for people of all backgrounds and cultures, she is passionate about the role of arts in raising awareness and building bridges. Believing that the arts have the power to open minds and hearts, she works on cultural heritage projects in collaboration with Native American tribes and organizations to promote reconciliation and healing between Indigenous Peoples and non-native people. She previously served as the Executive Director/CEO for the Wyoming Humanities Council from 2013-2021, associated with the National Endowment of the Humanities in the US. Prior to that she was an associate director and research fellow at EDUCAUSE in Boulder, Colorado and taught history and humanities for seven years at Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. She is an historian and author of several works on women of the American West, including Give Me Eighty Men: Women and The Myth of the Fetterman Fight, a book award winner from the Wyoming State Historical Society. She serves on the Board of Advisors for the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, and the Board of Trustees for the Nebraska State Historical Society. She is president of the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society, an organization that models allyship with Native Americans. She writes and researches on history and culture at www.smithstorian.com/my-blog & https://substack.com/@smithstorian.