THE ADVOCATE.

Shawna R. McMillan, M.Ed.

Educator • Advocate • Innovator • Leader

Shawna R. McMillan, M.Ed., is an educator, advocate, and doctoral scholar who has dedicated her career to ensuring that every child regardless of background, race, or ability has access to the meaningful education they deserve.

She is the Founder and Director of Navigating Advocacy for Meaningful Education (N.A.M.E.) LLC, a Maryland-based social impact organization that equips families, educators, and nonprofits with the tools to create inclusive, equitable learning environments.

Her work sits at the intersection of special education, community advocacy, and leadership development, blending research, lived experience, and policy insight to drive systemic change.

From Advocate Baltimore to N.A.M.E. LLC

Shawna’s journey began in 2018, when she founded Advocate Baltimore, a grassroots effort to help families navigate the special education system. At the time, she was serving as a teacher and instructional leader in Maryland public schools, where she witnessed how families often struggled to understand IEPs, 504 plans, and their children’s educational rights. Through late-night phone calls, living room meetings, and free community “Power Hours,” Shawna helped parents interpret special education laws, prepare for school meetings, and advocate for the services their children deserved. What started as volunteer advocacy quickly grew into a trusted network. Families weren’t just finding answers they were finding empowerment As demand increased, Shawna realized that advocacy needed to go beyond individual support. Nonprofits, schools, and youth programs also needed training to make inclusion a lived practice, not a legal checkbox. That realization led to the evolution of Advocate Baltimore into Navigating Advocacy for Meaningful Education (N.A.M.E.) LLC.

Academic Research & Doctoral Work

Shawna is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Management and Leadership (Ed.D.) at Drexel University, where her Problem of Practice (PoP) focuses on how educational systems can recognize, sustain, and institutionalize the leadership practices of Black women educators.

Her research explores how the mentorship, advocacy, and relational leadership of Black women have shaped inclusive education and community-based reform.

Her scholarly inquiry is guided by three central questions:

  1. How can systems intentionally recognize and sustain inclusive leadership practices by Black women educators?

  2. What institutional structures help or hinder this leadership from being acknowledged and replicated?

  3. How can these insights be applied to nonprofit and community organizations that serve diverse learners?

This research doesn’t just inform N.A.M.E.’s mission: it embodies it. The Maryland Inclusion Project’s design reflects her belief that leadership, inclusion, and advocacy must operate together to build sustainable systems of equity.

Leadership & Community Impact

Shawna’s professional career spans more than a decade in education and nonprofit leadership. She has:

  • Designed and led special education and literacy interventions for students with IEPs, English Language Learners, and those with language-based learning differences helping students achieve measurable academic growth through individualized, data-driven instruction.

  • Developed and managed afterschool and summer programs with SAFE Alternative Foundation for Education, aligning academic and workforce-readiness initiatives with Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) standards and integrating culturally responsive curricula in STEM, literacy, and financial literacy.

  • Facilitated parent workshops and IEP/504 Power Hours that demystify special education for hundreds of Maryland families, empowering caregivers to advocate confidently for their children’s rights and accommodations.

  • Led and advised program design for The Agoge Project, strengthening youth mentorship, fitness-based programming, and academic support systems that blend social-emotional learning with educational equity.

  • Launched and directs the Maryland Inclusion Project through N.A.M.E., merging research and practice to help nonprofits implement ADA and Section 504 standards while centering family and community voices in every level of program design.