Shawn Kimmell

Dr. Shawn D. Kimmel is the Director of Policy Initiatives for Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice (DWEJ). Shawn has been involved in social justice and anti-racism work since the 1980s, when he was involved in anti-racism and “Jobs for Justice” organizing to develop policies to meet the needs of low and moderate-income people, while opposing Reagan-era nuclear weapons spending and war against the people of Central America. Shawn earned a B.A. in English and Anthropology, and an M.A. in Philanthropic Studies and U.S. History from Indiana University, and then completed a Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Michigan, with a focus on the history of social movements. Before beginning work with DWEJ in November 2008, Shawn was a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the UM School of Public Health in the Kellogg Health Scholars Program (2006-2008), where his research was directed to understanding best practices for strengthening the capacity of community-based organizations to integrate policy research and advocacy into the design of community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects to achieve health equity and environmental justice.