Shannon Al-Wakeel is the executive director of the Muslim Justice League (MJL), a Boston-based organization advocating for human and civil rights that are threatened under national security pretexts. She was one of four Muslim women who founded MJL following federal law enforcement announcements in 2014 of a “countering violent extremism” pilot program targeting Boston. An attorney and printmaker, Shannon received her B.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. 

Prior to MJL, Shannon worked with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and later Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), where she directed MIRA’s state and local policy campaigns.  Shannon previously served as president of the Board of Directors of the New England Muslim Bar Association and, following the Boston Marathon bombing, provided “Know Your Rights” education and government relations assistance to Massachusetts mosques in response to increased targeting of local Muslim communities. Outside MJL, Shannon serves on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts.