As the founder of Shan Strategies, an Arizona-based consulting firm, I collaborate with companies to create lasting value for their stakeholders while delivering meaningful benefits to society. The name “Shan,” derived from Mandarin, means “to do good” and “to improve”—principles that guide my work every day.

With over 20 years of experience spanning the public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors, I have led transformative efforts that have raised and leveraged over $200 million to enhance education, workforce development, social and economic impact in Arizona. By developing effective public-private partnerships and fostering authentic stakeholder engagement, I help organizations deliver value and drive positive change for their communities.

Bio:

Pearl Chang Esau is a nationally recognized leader for improving education and workforce outcomes. A former teacher and executive with Teach For America, she has dedicated her career to driving educational progress and system-wide improvement. As CEO of Expect More Arizona, Pearl successfully led initiatives to raise Arizona’s academic standards and build partnerships between government, industry, and education to strengthen pathways from early childhood through the workforce.

Her achievements include co-founding the Arizona Education Progress Meter, a tool to track key metrics for academic progress, and co-creating Achieve 60AZ, a statewide effort to ensure 60% of Arizonans earn a degree or credential by 2030. Pearl also led statewide outreach for Proposition 123, which secured $3.5 billion for K-12 schools and received widespread bipartisan support.

Appointed by three Arizona governors to education and workforce leadership roles, Pearl currently serves on the boards of the City of Phoenix Workforce, Teach For America, Aliento Education Fund, and ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Among many honors, she has received the US Chamber of Commerce’s “A Profile in Change”, the Arizona Republic’s “Top Arizonans to Watch”, Arizona Business Magazine’s “Top 5 Under 35 Most Influential Women in Arizona,” and the Greater Phoenix Chamber Athena Award.

Pearl holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Policy, and Spanish from UCLA, and a Master’s in International Business with a focus on Digital Transformation from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU. Her work continues to expand opportunities for learners, ensuring they are prepared to thrive in an economy shaped by rapid technological advancements.

Rina Han is a talent strategist and people operations leader with over seventeen years of experience in the nonprofit and social impact sectors. She partners with organizations to strengthen their human capital systems, refine operations, and design equitable and sustainable workforce strategies. Rina began her career as an educator before moving into the nonprofit and social change space, where she developed expertise in recruitment, talent strategy, human resources, operations, risk management and policy, and large-scale project management. She has led initiatives in change management, executive search, compensation and policy design, performance management, and workforce development—helping businesses translate mission into operational excellence, particularly in moments of growth and transformation. 

Rina previously served as Director of Talent and Human Resources at KIPP, where she led human capital strategy. Prior to that, she held multiple national leadership roles at Teach For America, managing cross-functional teams and complex projects focused on diversity initiatives, policy, and risk management across 50 regional sites nationwide. 

Rina holds a Master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Wesleyan University. She brings a steady hand, a strategic mind, and a deep commitment to people-centered operations, believing that strong, inclusive systems are the foundation for lasting social impact.

Vanessa Valenzuela Erickson is a people operations and talent management leader. Most recently, she served as Chief People Officer at Culdesac - a first-of-its-kind car-free real estate developer. Prior to this, she worked in human resources, business operations, and finance at Opendoor and Salt River Project (SRP). While at SRP, she managed the Rotating Engineers program and supported the reskilling and redeployment of groups of employees through already established and new apprenticeship programs. She started her career teaching elementary school through the Teach For America program. Vanessa holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University and a degree in Economics and International Studies from the University of Arizona.

Born and raised in Phoenix, Vanessa commits time and energy to our great city and the communities it’s comprised of through board service and volunteer opportunities. She is the current board chair for Aliento, a non-profit serving undocumented, DACA, and mixed immigration status families. Her previous board service includes Teach For America/ASU Recruitment Board, Arizona PBS Community Advisory Board, and Teach For America Alumni Leadership Board. She spent years mentoring for Phoenix Metro YoungLives and New Pathways for Youth.

Robin Shapiro is a project and operations leader with more than 15 years of experience managing complex initiatives across education, nonprofit, and corporate sectors. She has served as Senior Program Manager with Arizona State University’s Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute, where she led cross-functional projects such as the nationally recognized Verizon Innovative Learning Lab program. Earlier in her career, Robin spent over a decade at Event 360, Inc., directing operations for large-scale fundraising events nationwide and managing budgets, logistics, and volunteer engagement for thousands of participants each year. Across these roles, Robin has built a track record of coordinating executive-level communications, overseeing multimillion-dollar grants, and fostering partnerships that expand access and drive mission impact.

Robin holds a Master’s degree in Instructional Design and a Bachelor’s degree in English Education, along with a Google Project Management certification. A passionate advocate for equity and access, she invests in youth development through volunteer and nonprofit leadership. She is the Co-Founder of the Swappow PLUS Foundation, an Arizona nonprofit that provides personal and workforce development to youth in foster care through skateboarding, and she also serves as a middle school cross country and track coach in her community.

Pam Juranas Zwolak is a executive support professional with more than 15 years of customer service and support experience. She transitioned is to freelance work at the end of 2020 after a career focused on sports and premium seating. She works to optimize time, manage up, and take items off “plates” to give everyone time back to focus on their top-line goals.

She most recently spent six years as a Premium Service Manager with the Portland Trail Blazers. During her time there, she worked to build and strengthen relationships with clients. Her professional colleagues describe her as loyal, organized and thoughtful.

Pam holds an MBA from The Citadel Graduate School and a BSBA in Marketing from East Carolina University. She currently resides in Charleston, SC with her family and their bernadoodle, Charlie.

Mitsi Sellers is a philanthropic advisor and social impact strategist with more than two decades of experience guiding mission-driven organizations toward meaningful, measurable change. She advises executive leaders across philanthropic, corporate, social, and government sectors, providing comprehensive social and economic impact portfolio services. Her core areas include strategy development, portfolio design, grantee sourcing, due diligence, portfolio management, and strategic partnership development.

Known for her ability to identify opportunity and bring clarity to complexity, Mitsi excels at aligning diverse teams around shared goals and translating ambitious ideas into practical pathways to impact. Her career includes notable leadership roles launching new initiatives and stewarding large-scale, cross-sector efforts. Skilled at collaborating with subject-matter experts and leaders across cultures and technical domains, she has contributed to initiatives totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in workforce development, education, community development, public health, agriculture, and small-business finance. Her work has supported leaders in 27 countries in achieving both concrete outcomes and audacious long-term goals.

Mitsi holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University, where she focused on religion and conflict resolution, and a BA in Philosophy from Wheaton College. Rooted in a family of farmers and builders from the Nebraska plains, she brings a practical, systems-minded curiosity to everything she does. She serves on the Board of the Televerde Foundation and is a Partner with Social Venture Partners Arizona.

Ella Hamer is an Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science double major at Duke University. She is an undergraduate Research Assistant in the Grill Lab, where she evaluates models of small neural fibers. She also works as a Light Trainer for Duke Ignite, teaching Durham middle schoolers electrical engineering fundamentals. Previously, she led consulting teams for early-stage startups as a Project Manager for TAMID Group at Duke. Ella has worked with Shan Strategies since 2024.