Staff: Shanna LaMar

Shanna LaMar joined Friends of the Children as the Chief Development Officer in November, 2021. She has dedicated her career to serving students whether they were in her classroom or part of an organization she was leading. She aligns a passion for education with extensive nonprofit leadership, positively impacting youth through meaningful and purposeful actions.

Shanna’s professional career started in the classroom. For 12 years she taught Marketing, Work Based Learning, and Career Connected Learning Experiences while serving concurrently as the DECA Advisor at South Kitsap High School. She subsequently served for 10 years as the Executive Director for Washington State DECA, an association that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. DECA served over 11,000 students annually, hosting two annual, multi-day, highly interactive statewide conferences of 1,600 – 3,600 student participants. During her time with DECA, Shanna successfully addressed key organizational issues while simultaneously increasing student value.

Recently, she served as Executive Director for College Success Foundation – Tacoma where she led a mission-centric team in delivering a career and college readiness pathway of student support to over 2,100 first-generation, low-income, students of color. Annually, over 98% of the participating students graduated from high school.

She has a B.S. in Business Administration from Central Washington University and resides in Seattle, Washington with her husband Brent. In her spare time, she enjoys downhill skiing, traveling, anything outdoors, and spending time with family and friends.