Shawn Flanigan is a professor of public affairs in the School of Public Affairs. Dr. Flanigan received her Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from the University at Albany-SUNY. She completed her B.A. in Latin American Studies and her Master in Public Administration at the University of New Mexico. Dr.  Flanigan teaches courses on public policy and nonprofit organizations, among others.  Her research focuses on the ways in which the needs of minorities, low-income populations, and other marginalized groups are met by nonprofit/non-state organizations and innovative public programs, both in the developing world and in the United States.

Dr. Flanigan is interested in state and non-state health and human service providers, and nonprofit advocacy efforts in health and social policy. In the developing world she has examined service provision to vulnerable populations by faith-based service providers, providers involved in electoral politics, and providers affiliated with groups that use violence (such as insurgent and terrorist organizations). In the United States she has conducted research on service provision and policy advocacy by immigrant nonprofit organizations, and innovative government approaches to addressing challenges in child nutrition and low-income housing. Dr. Flanigan has conducted field research in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, Germany, Romania, Sri Lanka and the United States. Her current research focuses on diaspora philanthropy toward Syrian refugees, and innovative government and nonprofit efforts to disrupt multi-generational poverty through housing programs.