Shannon Lynch

Assistant Vice President of Compliance, Mount Holyoke College: Age 30

Shannon Lynch

While attending the Western New England University School of Law, Shannon Lynch was initially interested in sports law and contract work. As she developed her oral advocacy skills, she thought maybe she’d go that route.

But her experience working with WNE’s General Counsel office impacted her in a significant way. There, she helped investigate student grievances and coordinate Title IX cases, and after beginning her career in family law and then personal injury, an opportunity arose as Trinity College’s Title IX coordinator in 2021.

“That’s a position that is federally mandated, but a lot of institutions stick it on an HR person or an interim or part-time person. So coming in, I had to build an office and develop a rapport with students where, previously, there wasn’t a lot of trust there.”

Her efforts contributed to a 284% increase in student reports filed. She led an overhaul of the college’s policy on sexual harassment and supported the redevelopment of the non-discrimination policy.

In her current role at Mount Holyoke College, Lynch combines her experience in Title IX with other federal civil-rights laws, American Disabilities Act compliance, and civil-rights matters in higher education, the latter being a long-time passion.

Since starting last summer, Lynch has seen Title IX reporting jump again.

“It’s incredibly important, especially since Title IX covers sexual assault, sex discrimination, domestic and dating violence, and stalking, all of which is very prevalent in this age group and at higher-education institutions,” she noted. And reporting is important because an institution can’t fix what it doesn’t know about. We can’t make an institution safer and better for young individuals if we don’t know what’s happening to them.”

A figure skater who rose to the U.S. Junior National team, Lynch also co-founded (with her husband, Michael, a member of the 40 Under Forty class of 2022) the Lynchie and Friends Foundation, which has donated more than $40,000 to several local health-related charities through a series of golf tournaments.

“Our first daughter just turned 3,” she said. “She was in the NICU at Baystate. To go back later and present them with a check, we were able to look at the nurses and say, ‘thank you so much for everything you did for us. Here’s something for you.’ Our nephew has autism, so once a year we do something toward autism. It’s really gratifying and keeps us connected to the community.”

—Joseph Bednar