Who is Shannon Thomson?

I love community development. I get so excited about new initiatives that are striving to place marginalized and vulnerable groups at the very centre of their own stories. I believe in empowerment and I believe the way that we tell stories about development work matters.

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I have worked in community development for the last 10 years. I hold a Masters of Science (M.Sc.) from the London School of Economics, in Health, Community and Development. My program focused on the social determinants of health and community development, understanding what drives change and how power structures effect that change.

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I am an experienced project manager with 8 years of experience working with international NGOs in the UK and throughout East and Southern Africa. I launched my freelance business in 2018.

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I was born in Canada and after working for 2 years in the UK, I moved to Tanzania to work more closely with community development projects in the region. I currently live in Mwanza, Tanzania with my husband and our two sons and have been here since 2012.

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I love storytelling in all its forms and in 2016 launched and managed Mwanza Storytellers, a monthly storytelling event bringing together diverse groups within the Mwanza community. I have also written for travel and parenting magazines, sharing my personal experiences through these mediums. 

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My goal is to help elevate the voices of the most marginalized and vulnerable. To ensure that their stories get told and that their input sits at the centre of the very projects designed to support them.

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