Shannon Roche serves as the Director of the Office of Business Liaison at the Department of Commerce. In this capacity, she leads the Department’s business community engagement on the Obama Administration’s top policy priorities. The Office of Business Liaison promotes progressive business policies that help America’s businesses and entrepreneurs at home in the United States, and works to strengthen the international economic position of the United States and facilitate global trade by advocating for American businesses.

Previously, Shannon served as the Director of the Office of Advisory Committees and Industry Outreach (OACIO) at the International Trade Administration, where she oversaw four Federal Advisory Committees, including the President’s Export Council and the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, and 17 Industry Trade Advisory Committees.

Before joining the Obama Administration, Shannon spent ten years starting and growing organizations to fill gaps in the progressive movement. She served in several roles over five years at the Democracy Alliance (DA), the longest of which was as Chief Operating Officer, and helped grow the DA from its inception into one of the largest drivers of activist philanthropic support for progressive movement institutions. As House Majority PAC’s founding Deputy Director, she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of a new kind of political organization, including working with legal counsel to determine how to conduct its work appropriately, and managing a $37 million budget. Finally, she served as the founding Executive Director of the Franklin Forum, a media training and messaging hub for progressive leaders and messengers.

Shannon has served in various organizational management, member services, and fundraising roles for the Democratic National Committee, former Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign, New York City’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, and the Advisory Board Company. She has also advised a number of organizations in organizational and economic development-related capacities, including New York City's Department of Small Business Services, the Roosevelt Institute, and the host committee for the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Shannon received a B.A., cum laude, from Duke University and an M.P.P. from Harvard Kennedy School. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and two children.