“Om, shanti, shanti, shanti. Om, peace, peace, peace.”
Shannon Leigh Eastwood is a product, technology, and innovation leader whose career has been defined by a willingness to build boldly, challenge conventional thinking, and turn complex ideas into meaningful outcomes. With more than 20 years of professional experience spanning technology, product development, digital strategy, global sourcing, entrepreneurship, education, design, and social innovation, she brings a distinctly multidisciplinary perspective to leadership. Her personal philosophy—“Build, Test, Iterate”—captures both her approach to innovation and her belief that sustained progress comes from curiosity, experimentation, thoughtful execution, and continuous learning.
Shannon’s professional journey began at the intersection of creativity, technology, and product development. As a Technical Designer with Liz Claiborne Inc. in New York, she translated original design concepts into digital formats while serving as an important communication link between designers and international manufacturing partners. The experience gave her early exposure to global product development, technical execution, sourcing, and cross-functional collaboration. She later expanded her leadership capabilities through project management in residential and commercial design-build environments, overseeing projects involving green building and historic rehabilitation throughout the Richmond, Virginia region.
Her career entered a significant new phase at Evergreen Enterprises, where Shannon spent nearly eight years managing complex product portfolios and developing a deep understanding of the entire commercial product lifecycle. As Senior Product Development Manager, she worked across product development and design, brand identity, sales, marketing, global sourcing, logistics, and operations. Managing multimillion-dollar portfolios with distribution across independent retail, mass-market channels, and e-commerce strengthened her ability to balance customer needs, creative vision, operational realities, and business performance. Her accomplishments during this period also reflected her creative instincts, earning recognition through several internal innovation and creative competitions.
Shannon subsequently moved more deeply into entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategic leadership. While completing her Master of Product Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University’s da Vinci Center, she contributed to The Abstract Athlete, an early-stage company focused on the connection between creativity, athletics, and mental health. As Brand Development Manager, she supported business strategy, brand identity, marketing, and investor presentations, helping the startup communicate its vision and pursue funding opportunities. This experience strengthened her interest in working alongside founders and emerging organizations seeking to transform ambitious ideas into scalable products and businesses.
As Director of Strategy at Mobelux, Shannon broadened her influence across sales, client services, product strategy, and research. Working with organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies, she helped guide digital initiatives focused on solving complex problems through human-centered design, user experience, content strategy, and product development. Her work reinforced a leadership philosophy centered on understanding people before designing solutions—a principle that has remained central throughout her career. She developed particular strength in connecting business objectives with customer needs, creative teams, and technology capabilities to create products and strategies grounded in real-world value.
Shannon continued that trajectory at Aquent Scout, first as Senior Product Manager and later as Head of Product. In this leadership role, she guided product strategy while managing designers and product managers supporting a technology-enabled recruitment marketplace connecting employers, recruiters, and diverse talent. Her responsibilities required her to navigate the intersection of technology, customer experience, organizational strategy, and market opportunity. Through cross-functional leadership, business analysis, creative strategy, and team development, she helped shape product direction while building alignment among stakeholders with different priorities and perspectives.
Her leadership in technology and socially responsible innovation became especially prominent during her tenure with Reset Tech, where she served as Global Head of Technology Product. Reset Tech operates with a public-interest mission focused on improving the relationship between digital media markets and democratic values. Shannon supported the organization’s programs through technology advancement, human-centered design, and innovative product development, helping translate mission-oriented goals into practical technology-based outcomes. This work further sharpened her interest in the responsible and ethical application of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, and reinforced her belief that innovation should create value not only for organizations but for the people and communities affected by it.
Alongside her corporate leadership, Shannon has consistently invested in developing future innovators. As an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University, she taught graduate students in the Master of Product Innovation program, leading coursework in Design Principles for Innovation. Her teaching emphasized hands-on learning, experimentation, and the practical application of innovation frameworks to real-world challenges. Her academic involvement reflects an important dimension of her leadership style: the ability to translate complex ideas into understandable frameworks, facilitate productive discussion, and empower others to approach problems with greater creativity and confidence.
Entrepreneurship and personal well-being have also become increasingly important components of Shannon’s professional identity. In 2023, she founded Our Lotus Society, a wellness lifestyle organization focused on creating spaces for rest, reflection, healing, and personal transformation through yoga, meditation, sound practices, retreats, workshops, and community experiences. The venture combines Shannon’s experience in business ownership, brand development, community engagement, and startup leadership with her personal commitment to health and wellness. Her interests in yoga, sports, faith, and holistic well-being reflect a broader belief that sustainable leadership begins with understanding people as whole individuals.
Shannon’s leadership experience extends beyond formal employment. She has contributed to mission-driven organizations through community engagement, human-centered innovation, inclusion initiatives, and volunteer leadership. Her work has included serving as Director of Community Engagement for SSUPP Foods, organizing a chapter of OpenIDEO, and facilitating an LGBTQIA+ and Allies employee resource group at Aquent. Across these experiences, she has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to bring people together around shared purpose, guide organizations through periods of change, and create environments in which diverse viewpoints can contribute to better outcomes.
Her academic and professional development further reinforces this multidisciplinary profile. Shannon holds a Master of Product Innovation with a focus on Social Innovation from the VCU da Vinci Center and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also completed studies in innovation through the European Innovation Academy, earned a Scrum Master certification, and completed Cornell University coursework in building a diverse workforce and intercultural and multicultural studies. In 2026, she was recognized as a Marquis Who’s Who Honored Listee, adding to a career that has consistently blended creativity, leadership, innovation, and service.
Today, Shannon is particularly interested in contributing to startups, technology companies, product-driven organizations, and businesses navigating growth, transformation, or emerging technologies. Her expertise spans artificial intelligence, go-to-market strategy, product development, design thinking, strategic planning, global outreach, cross-functional leadership, team management, business strategy, and innovation. She brings both strategic range and operating experience, allowing her to understand high-level organizational challenges while remaining grounded in the realities of building products, developing teams, serving customers, and bringing new ideas to market.
As she expands her involvement with boards and advisory organizations, Shannon is motivated by the opportunity to help companies build responsibly and create meaningful impact. She is particularly passionate about the ethical use of artificial intelligence and believes that technological advancement should be approached with both ambition and accountability. Her global exposure, product leadership experience, entrepreneurial mindset, and commitment to human-centered innovation position her to contribute valuable perspective to organizations navigating technology disruption, product growth, organizational transformation, and rapidly evolving customer expectations. Ultimately, Shannon seeks to work with leaders who are not merely building businesses, but who are committed to improving the world around them through thoughtful, responsible innovation.
Character:
Shannon leads with curiosity, empathy, integrity, and a commitment to creating positive impact in the organizations and communities she serves. Her dedication to wellness, inclusion, ethical technology, and mission-driven entrepreneurship reflects a leadership philosophy grounded in both human responsibility and meaningful progress.
Knowledge:
Her more than two decades of experience span product development, technology, strategy, design, global sourcing, entrepreneurship, education, and innovation. This multidisciplinary foundation gives her the ability to evaluate organizational challenges through commercial, technological, operational, creative, and customer-centered perspectives.
Strategic:
Shannon has repeatedly helped organizations connect ambitious ideas with executable strategies, from managing multimillion-dollar product portfolios to guiding digital product teams and supporting technology initiatives with global relevance. She combines design thinking, market awareness, product strategy, and iterative problem-solving to help organizations identify opportunities and translate them into sustainable action.
Communication:
An experienced leader, educator, facilitator, and presenter who is comfortable communicating vision across executive, technical, creative, academic, and community environments. Her ability to make complex concepts accessible, build alignment among diverse stakeholders, and inspire teams around a shared purpose strengthens her effectiveness as both an executive leader and prospective board advisor.
