Shannon O’Neill, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, Co-CEO

Email: shannon@sparcinsights.com

An accomplished and award-winning higher education leader and advocate, Dr. Shannon O’Neill served as the Executive Director for Workforce and Professional Education at Vermont State University, securing and managing over $6 million dollars in grant funds to support and build new STEM pipeline programs and leading a diverse team of professionals to meet the varied training needs of employers and industries in Vermont. Prior to that role, she was the Associate Dean for Student Success and founding Director of the Cutler Center at Albion College. She led a team of talented staff and administrators across the institution to create infrastructure and policies that removed barriers to academic success and improved student outcomes.

Prior to her leadership role at Albion College, she held the position of Associate Dean of the College for Junior & Senior Studies, Pre-Law Advisor, and the Bruce Donovan ’59 Dean for Recovery and Substance-Free Initiatives at Brown University. At Brown, Dr. O’Neill led significant institutional change around the inclusion of students, faculty, and staff who have made commitments to a substance-free life for a wide variety of reasons. She also led significant changes in university policies to address equity in academic access and success. Before Brown, she was the founding director of the Women’s Center and a faculty member in Women and Gender Studies at Siena College.

Dr. O’Neill has a passion for engaged learning. She has taught community-engaged courses and created academic travel experiences to examine gender equality in the Nordic countries and immigration and human rights issues in the American Southwest. She began her professional life as an analyst for a training and consulting firm helping organizations address cultural diversity and sexual harassment prevention issues. In addition, she has spent several years working as a trainer in the addiction treatment field, working with harm-reduction practices. 

Originally from Minnesota, Dr. O’Neill started her undergraduate career at Marquette University and graduated from St. Catherine University with a B.A. in women’s studies and psychology. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in social personality psychology from the State University of New York at Albany. She also holds a Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching in London and is a Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths Coach.