Shannon Nia Figueroa is a Bronx, New York native with a love of writing, media and advocacy. Professionally, she is an Elementary Special Educator at a charter school in the South Bronx. In addition to her professional position, Shannon is a visual storyteller by means of video editing and content creation for creatives who work in different fields.

Serving the community is one of Shannon's great loves and whether she is serving with her family, friends or her developing philanthropic organization, being community-conscious is embedded in her being. She also is working diligently to build the foundation for her developing non-profit, BAISIC, which empowers young girls/ladies to embrace their authentic self while equipping them with the tools to defy limitations placed upon them due to familial, societal or systemic placement.

Shannon graduated from Hofstra University in 2015 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and is a proud product of their Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) known as New Opportunities At Hofstra (NOAH). While at Hofstra, she was engaged in several student organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Hofstra Chapter, Collegiate Women of Color (CWC), 88.7 WRHU-FM, Hofstra Today and more. Also, as a first-year student, she was named "New Student of the Year" (2012) and in February of 2018, she was named "Alumna of the Month."

Through her professional and personal endeavors Shannon aims to be an example to women of color everywhere and show through hard-work, being authentic/realistic and the power of faith, anything is possible!