Shannetta Mennenga, BS, MPA, Sr. Consultant, is a driven, competent strategic professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in organizational development and leading successful organizational-wide change efforts. She is an effective problem solver with key strengths in coaching, change management, strategic planning, talent and leadership development, diversity and inclusion, relationship building, events coordination, and program implementation. She has designed, developed, and implement numerous trainings, seminars, and development programs utilizing various methods of learning from instructor led to web-based training. Her expertise crosses numerous industries, from manufacturing, academia, healthcare, technology, and retail businesses. She works with individual contributors, senior leaders, executive leaders, and all teams large and small. She keeps participant involved and engaged through her unique style of interactive participation, relevance, and storytelling.
Shannetta began her management career as a quality lab manager for a manufacturing company in Illinois where she developed and implemented a new process of analyzing the quality of the products being produced. She was soon promoted to quality statistician where she implemented more quality enhancing changes. She relocated to Maine where she worked as a community education coordinator for the Eastern Maine AIDS Network (EMAN) in which she designed and facilitated HIV/AIDS education for the community and advocated for the LGBTQ youth community. During her work at EMAN, Shannetta was recruited and accepted the position Assistant Director for Students and Community Life and was then promoted to Dean of Multicultural Student Affairs, where she was able to successfully reestablish an environment of trust after a major racial equity protest involving ALANA (African, Latino, Asian, Native American) students toward the University administration. She also successfully aligned the University of Maine’s LGBTQ community into the Office of Multicultural Affairs. During her tenure at the University of Maine, the Governor of the State of Maine, Angus King, appointed Shannetta to serve as the American Delegation Leader at the international peace building camp, Seeds of Peace. Shannetta interacted with Delegation Leaders from Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Cyprus. She helped facilitate programs that included intense cross-cultural dialogue, educational workshops, and cultural activities to help bridge peace initiatives for future leaders.
Shannetta relocated to Buffalo, New York where she worked as an Organizational Development (OD) Consultant for Kaleida Health, one of the largest health systems in Western New York. There, she developed a strategic alignment development instrument that was used across the entire five-location system to help the organization received accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). She was promoted to Senior OD consultant where she worked exclusively on change management initiatives and strategies.
Shannetta then took a position as Director of Cultural Alignment at HealthNow, the largest health insurer in WNY, which owns BlueCross BlueShield of WNY, BlueShield of NENY, and Brokerage Concepts Incorporate where she was responsible for the alignment of the organization’s corporate culture to its mission, vision, and values. She was responsible for employee onboarding at all levels including a corporate-wide new employee orientation. She established a highly-regarded corporate-wide reward and recognition program, was responsible for internal corporate communication, development and management of the company’s intranet, and coordinated and administered the company’s annual engagement survey. Shannetta coordinated all employee volunteer and engagement events including co-chair of the Wellness Committee and employee wellness initiatives that helped the company be recognized as Business First 100 Healthiest Places to Work.
Shannetta holds a BS in Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and MPA from the University of Maine, is a certified GE master change agent, and a certified BlessingWhite engagement trainer. She has belonged to numerous community boards, committees, and organizations and is an active and engaged community member. She is also available for speaking engagements as a motivational speaker.
