Shannon Weston currently serves as the Director of Quality Assurance and Public Information Officer for the Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS). She has served in this position since 2016 and is responsible for the coordination of the Performance-based Standards initiative. Shannon also serves as the agency’s grant manager, special projects coordinator, and is a national certified trainer for the Mental Health Training for Juvenile Justice (MHT-JJ) curriculum.

Shannon previously served as the Grants and Public Policy Coordinator for the Alabama Department of Mental Health for ten years. In this capacity, she was responsible for grant development and project implementation, public policy development, and legislative initiatives. Prior to working for the Dept. of Mental Health, Shannon served as the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Alabama for three years. Shannon received her Doctorate in Rehabilitation Counseling from Auburn University and her Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Shannon was also a Presidential Scholar and graduated from the University of Alabama Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Minor in Business Administration.