Lisa Shannon

Who is Lisa Shannon?

Lisa J. Shannon is an author and founder of Run for Congo Women, which is a volunteer effort to raise funds and awareness for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She previously owned a photography production company in Portland, Oregon, where she served as art director and producer. By Fall 2010, Run for Congo Women had sponsored more than 1400 war-affected Congolese women through Women for Women International and over $12,000,000 had been raised for the program through Shannon's media appearances and Run for Congo Women events. Shannon's book, A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman covers her journeys into eastern Congo in January–February 2007 and May 2008.

In Fall 2010, Shannon founded A Thousand Sisters in order to empower everyday women and men to become leaders in the movement to end violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo and mass atrocities around the world. In July 2011, she founded Sister Somalia, the first rape hotline and support program for survivors of gender based violence in Mogadishu, in partnership with Fartun Adan and the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre and Prism Partnerships. In July 2012, Shannon entered the Harvard Kennedy School Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program as a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow with the Center for Public Leadership.