Shenandoah Chefalo
Founder and Lead Strategist
Meet Shenandoah Chefalo
Founder & Lead Strategist, Chefalo Consulting
Shenandoah Chefalo is a sought-after speaker, award-winning author, and one of the nation’s leading experts in trauma-informed leadership and systems change. She brings over 20 years of experience helping organizations in education, health care, nonprofits, and government transform how they lead, serve, and support.
In 2025, Chefalo Consulting was nationally recognized in the Education & Training Awards by Corporate Vision, receiving:
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Most Impactful Leadership Development Program – USA
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Excellence Award in Social Impact Consulting
Rooted in Lived Experience
Shenandoah's approach to systems transformation is grounded in her personal story. Raised in the foster care system, she endured a childhood shaped by instability and neglect — a reality she shares in her powerful memoir, Garbage Bag Suitcase. Her lived experience is not an exception — it’s the tragic norm.
Author, Educator & Advocate
Shenandoah is the author of:
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Garbage Bag Suitcase — a memoir on her experience in the foster system
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The Best Bunny — her 2025 trauma-informed children’s book about grief and healing
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Multiple best-selling eBooks on trauma-informed leadership, mental wellness, and systems change
She is a nationally recognized keynote speaker and consultant known for delivering evidence-based, practical tools to help organizations embed trauma-informed values into their culture.
Credentials & Community Impact
Shenandoah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science from Michigan State University. She is also:
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A graduate of Coach U’s Core Essentials Program
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A Certified Law of Attraction Advanced Practitioner
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A member of the National Speakers Association
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Co-founder of #4600andCounting, a movement to raise awareness of missing youth in foster care
DID YOU KNOW?
🧒 400,000+ children in foster care
🎓 Less than 5% graduate college
🚔 50% incarcerated within 2 years
⚖️ 80% of people on death row were once in foster care
