Shawn Healy, PhD, Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer, leads iCivics’ state and federal policy and advocacy through the CivXNow Coalition and oversees civic education campaigns in several key states and the nation’s capital. He plays an active role in recruiting supporters to fund policy, advocacy, and implementation efforts nationwide to ensure impact. Since Healy joined iCivics in 2021, 35 states strengthened civic education policies, Congress quadrupled funding for K-12 civics, and the CivxNow Coalition grew to more than 400 pluralistic organizational members with representation in 45 states and DC.
Healy is also an adjunct professor in Public Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and serves as the Board President of the Legislative Semester, Inc. and on the Board of Directors of Reform for Illinois. He recently completed his second term as a Serve Illinois Commissioner.
Before joining iCivics, Healy worked for fifteen years at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, most recently serving as Democracy Program Director. During his time at McCormick, Healy chaired the Illinois Task Force on Civic Education in 2014 and later led separate, successful legislative campaigns for a required civics course in Illinois in middle and high school, respectively. He also convened the Illinois Social Science Standards Task Force. The Illinois State Board of Education adopted its recommendations in 2015.
Healy began his career as a social studies teacher at West Chicago Community High School (IL) and Sheboygan North and South High Schools (WI).
A 2001 James Madison Fellow from the State of Wisconsin, Healy holds a MA and PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Political Science. He earned a bachelor’s degree with distinction in Political Science, History and Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.