Shannon Al-Wakeel

Shannon Al-Wakeel is an accomplished legal professional and advocate, currently serving as the Executive Director of the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School, a position she assumed in 2023. Prior to her role at Stanford, she was the Managing Director of the Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration at Northeastern University School of Law, where she focused on interdisciplinary research and opportunities that advanced public interest initiatives.

Al-Wakeel has a rich background in movement lawyering, systemic policy advocacy, and direct legal representation. She was the founding executive director of the Muslim Justice League (MJL) in Boston, which was established to advocate for civil rights in the context of national security concerns. Her work with MJL included providing free legal representation to individuals pressured by federal agencies, particularly in relation to surveillance and coercion affecting Muslim communities.

She has also worked with organizations such as the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, where she contributed to advancing immigrants' rights at various governmental levels.

Al-Wakeel holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from the University of Pennsylvania, along with a law degree with honors from Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and has served on several boards, including those of the New England Muslim Bar Association and the ACLU of Massachusetts. Currently, she is on the Board of Directors for Defending Rights and Dissent, which aims to protect political expression in a democratic society.12