Prior to joining the Institute, Shafer was the staff writer for Usable Knowledge at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has also worked in the classroom as an instructor for first-year undergraduates in Brandeis’ Student Support Services program and as a City Year AmeriCorps member for third graders in Boston Public Schools. Shafer holds master’s degrees in public policy and business administration from the Heller School at Brandeis University and a bachelor’s degree in English and American Studies from Dickinson College.