Meet Dr. Shawn Healy, Senior Director at the CivXNow Coalition
Shawn Healy, PhD, Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy, leads iCivics’ state and federal policy and advocacy work through the CivXNow Coalition and oversees civic education campaigns in several key states. He plays an active role in recruiting supporters to fund policy, advocacy, and implementation efforts nationwide to ensure impact. Healy holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and earned a bachelor’s degree with distinction in Political Science, History, and Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
What kind of work do you do with the iCivics and the CivXNow Coalition? What energizes you about your career?
I serve as Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy for iCivics, which leads the CivXNow Coalition. iCivics was founded in 2009 by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to ensure that each generation of students develops the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for informed, effective, and lifelong engagement in our constitutional democracy. In fulfilling Justice O’Connor’s vision, it isn’t enough to be the leading provider of K–12 civics curriculum in the country—we must ensure that civic education is prioritized in our schools through policies advancing high-quality civic education for our youth.
Since 2018, through the viewpoint-diverse CivXNow Coalition that now has more than 290+ member organizations nationwide, we’ve worked to strengthen state and federal investments in K–12 civic education. Last year, thanks to our advocacy, Congress tripled federal funding for civics, from $7.75M to $23M, and in the past biennium, 16 states adopted 17 policies aligned with the CivXNow State Policy Menu, including new civics course requirements in four states.
My advice is to pursue positions in the policy advocacy and civic engagement sector with confidence, for this work is nothing more than the practical application of lessons learned in political science classrooms.I’ve spent my entire career as a civics educator, profoundly committed to students’ civic development. From my perch in a high school social studies classroom two decades ago to the halls of Congress today, I’m energized by the belief that our constitutional democracy’s strength and sustenance are dependent on the civic development of each successive generation. School-based civic learning is central to this equation, ensuring all students graduate with foundational civic knowledge, civic engagement skills, and a sense that they can make a difference in their communities. Our collective work ensures universal access to these opportunities.
What did you study in graduate school? Can you say a little bit about your research?
I studied American government with an emphasis on Congress and the federal courts in graduate school at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). My dissertation centered on essential school supports for students’ civic development, including evidence-based civic learning pedagogies, investments in teacher professional development, leadership embracing schools’ civic mission, a democratic school culture and climate, and reciprocal relationships between schools and the surrounding community. While this research was specific to grades 9–12, I later translated it to higher education in a chapter in APSA’s Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines (2017). I’m now able to put these principles into practice as an adjunct public policy professor at UIC.
Why and when did you choose to pursue a non-faculty career?
I spent the 15 years prior to joining iCivics in philanthropy, where I had the opportunity to affect policy change through grantmaking, coalition-building, direct programming, and policy advocacy. This included several years of service as a registered lobbyist in Illinois, where I led the charge for passage of state laws requiring high school (2015) and middle school (2019) civics courses.
I completed my PhD during this time period and was already well entrenched in my professional role as a policy advocate. I later pivoted to iCivics with the opportunity to do similar work on a national stage. Yet upon earning my PhD, I jumped at the opportunity to teach undergraduate courses as an adjunct at my alma mater, where I’m able to bring personal examples of my policy work to students in the classroom, a role I cherish.
In what ways did your doctoral training help you in your career?
My doctoral training helps me immeasurably in my career. First, I have a firm understanding of how Congress functions, critical to navigating complicated appropriations processes and building bipartisan, bicameral support for legislation reflecting our field’s key policy priorities. Second, my quantitative background helps with policy analysis, including crunching civic health data and students’ performance on measures of civic knowledge and engagement. Third and finally, my expertise on youth civic development gleaned from my dissertation research allows me to deftly field questions from legislative and executive agency staff on the impact of prospective civic education policies and investments.
Do you have any advice for PhD students considering a career in advocacy and civic engagement?
Political science knowledge and skills translate well to the public policy domain. A firm understanding of institutions is core to policy advocacy, as is a sense of the political parties, and how officials can be differentially persuaded. Domain-specific expertise is also paramount, as legislators tend to be generalists and rely upon advocates for information on policy alternatives and outcomes.
There’s also a deep body of political science research on civic engagement that helps us understand how and why individuals engage civically—namely because they can, they care, and somebody asked. By this I mean individuals participate because they have time, money, and skills; are cognitively engaged with the political process; and are recruited to participate in civic acts with peers. While we can’t stop time or print money, we can build skills among grassroots supporters, keep them up-to-date on the latest policy developments, and encourage them to participate in any number of civic acts, like a congressional meeting.
In sum, my advice is to pursue positions in the policy advocacy and civic engagement sector with confidence, for this work is nothing more than the practical application of lessons learned in political science classrooms.
APSA’s Career Paths series explores the wide range of career trajectories that political science PhDs can take and provides specific career advice for graduate students entering the job market, as well as other political scientists at all career levels who are looking for new career opportunities. Individuals interested in contributing to the series should email teaching@apsanet.org.