Board of Directors

Shaheewa T. Jarrett Gelin, Esq.

Shaheewa serves as the General Counsel and Vice President of Compliance for an insurance brokerage and advisory company. In this capacity, she provides legal advice and ensures compliance with federal and state health care laws. In addition, she worked as a federal litigator for over seventeen years with the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security.

In 2017, she incorporated the Broward County Black Chamber of Commerce as she recognized that the County needed an advocate for the small, black business owner. The Chamber officially launched in August of 2018, currently has over 430 members and is quickly growing. The Chamber is focused on access to capital, advocacy, connecting its members to decision makers in the public and private sectors, and educating its members and the community about the value of certifications. The Chamber is determined to expand the profit margins of black businesses in the area, with an aggressive and innovative agenda.

Shaheewa has volunteered with several community organizations.  She is currently the Chair of the Broward County Small Business Development Advisory Board, Chair of the Broward County Public School Small Business Advisory Board, and member of the Broward County Racial Equity Task Force.  Shaheewa also serves as the Board Chair for a social enterprise, OIC Strategic Integration.

In the past, she has served as Vice President for the League of Women Voters of Broward County, as a member of the Broward County Human Rights Board, on the Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida and the League of Women Voters Broward Education Fund.  She has also served on the Advisory Committee for the Miami-Dade College School of Community Education and as a child advocate for the Guardian Ad Litem program.

Shaheewa graduated, with honors, from the Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law. In 2009, she received a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University.  Shaheewa is also a 2021 alumni of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Reinventing Our Communities Programs Cohort, focused on creating solutions through a racial equity lens for small business.