After more than 50 years of serving others through juvenile justice, mental health, developmental disabilities, nonprofit leadership, higher education, and executive coaching, Shawn Jeffers has come to believe that organizations rarely become stronger than the leadership capacity they intentionally build. That conviction has shaped a career dedicated to helping leaders become the best version of themselves while strengthening the organizations and communities they serve.
What makes Shawn's perspective unique is that he has experienced leadership from virtually every level of an organization. His career began working directly with youth involved in Illinois' juvenile justice system before becoming a clinical counselor, progressing into clinical and facility leadership, serving as a state government executive helping shape public policy, leading nonprofit organizations as a CEO for more than two decades, teaching graduate students, coaching executives, and consulting with organizations across the state. Along the way, he has learned that leadership looks different at every level—but its impact is always measured by the people it serves and the capability it leaves behind.
In 2022, after serving more than twenty years as Executive Director of Little City
Foundation, Shawn officially retired. Friends and colleagues assumed he would finally slow down, enjoy a well-earned life of leisure, and perhaps discover a hobby that didn't involve leadership books.
That plan lasted only a few months.
Shawn quickly realized that while he could retire from a position, he couldn't retire from his passion for developing leaders and strengthening organizations. Today, as Founder and Principal Consultant of S&B Professional Services LLC, he partners with nonprofit organizations, healthcare systems, educational institutions, and businesses to build leadership capacity through executive coaching, talent management, succession planning, organizational development, and leadership education.
He also serves as an instructor in Northern Illinois University's Master of Public Administration program, where he enjoys helping the next generation of public and nonprofit leaders think differently about leadership, talent, and organizational effectiveness. His current work centers on the idea of developing the Contextual Leadership Capacity Framework™, an evidence-informed approach that helps organizations intentionally assess, develop, and sustain leadership capacity at every level.
Although Shawn has spent a lifetime studying leadership, he is quick to point out that his greatest lessons have come from experience—celebrating successes, learning from failures, and discovering that leadership is less about having all the answers than asking better questions.
He believes leadership development is not an event, a workshop, or a training program—it's one of the most important strategic investments an organization can make. Individual leaders matter, but lasting organizational success depends on building systems that continuously identify, develop, and support leadership throughout the organization.
His presentations combine practical frameworks, current research, real-world stories, and a healthy dose of humor. More than anything, he hopes participants leave with ideas they can put into practice immediately and a renewed belief that leadership development is not simply about creating better leaders—it's about intentionally building the leadership capacity organizations need to adapt, innovate, and fulfill their mission for years to come.
Today, Shawn continues what retirement apparently wasn't able to accomplish— helping leaders become the best version of themselves, helping organizations intentionally build the leadership capacity they need for the future, and leaving every organization a little stronger than he found it.
