Shannon Ivey MFA, AEA, PCC (she/they) is a queer, disabled, recovering theatre professor, union actor/director, and ICF-certified professional coach. She has performed essays on stage (story slams) for over a decade through her #whatshesaidproject and in Jasper Magazine's Fall Lines. Before the cancer diagnosis, Ivey authored and toured a South Carolina Arts Commission grant-funded one-woman show, ""Natural Disasters of the Human Kind,"" about the vulnerability of birth and the 1,000-year flood in Columbia. Ivey, who spent five years as a professional development trainer in health and social service organizations, has a particular interest in patient/person-centered care. She has studied narrative medicine at Columbia University and is an empowered patient leader in Colontown, an online support group for people with colorectal cancer.
When I was diagnosed with blood cancer, Shannon Ivey was one of the first people I turned to for solace and wisdom. Her authenticity and fierce self-advocacy are an inspiring model for anyone navigating hard times. --Katherine Burke, director, Program in Medical Humanities, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine