Shannon Woodward oversees all individual and gift planning for the Gary Sinise Foundation and manages a national team of frontline major gift planners supporting a mission of veterans, first responders and their families. Before joining the foundation Shannon spent 17 years serving higher education with major and principal gift work. Most recently she was the sr. philanthropic advisor at Tulane University and previously served as the executive director of gift planning where she implemented and managed the Office of Gift Planning for the university, which integrated major and planned gifts and changed the development culture at Tulane. Her greatest joy is working with donors who make transformational philanthropic investments and sharing innovative ways to make their goals come to fruition.

Shannon has presented on faculty for many years at CASE and is a regular presenter with AFP, Association of Charitable Gift Planners, and Partnership for Philanthropic Planners.  She offers consulting and training to various nonprofits and worked closely with the late Robert Sharpe, Jr. as a member of his Encore team. Shannon lives with her husband and four year old son in The Woodlands, TX.