Sophia Shaw

Sophia Shaw leads the firm’s work with nonprofit clients and donors to nonprofits.

From her experience as a CEO, trustee, board president, donor, and volunteer, as well as her years as a professor of nonprofit board governance, Sophia has a full understanding of how to maximize the impact of a nonprofit.

Concurrent with starting her company, Sophia served as an adjunct professor of social impact at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and directed Kellogg Board Fellows, a rigorous program that connects top Kellogg MBA students to Chicago-area nonprofits for an opportunity in board service. Sophia taught both an introductory course on board governance of nonprofits as well as one on advanced topics.

From 2006 to 2016, Sophia served initially as vice president and then president and CEO of the Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the leading public gardens of the world. Under Sophia’s leadership, the 385-acre campus experienced a 52 percent increase in attendance as well as record-breaking fundraising (nearly $240 million) and operating budget results. The Garden also became recognized as a global model for environmental conservation, advocacy, as well as urban agriculture and horticulture jobs training and education emphasizing programs for diverse and underserved communities in partnership with a wide variety of corporations, schools, healthcare centers, organizations, and government agencies. Under Sophia’s leadership, the Garden completed transformational design and construction projects and launched the plant biology and conservation Ph.D. program with Northwestern University. In 2016 Sophia was awarded the Openlands Conservation Leadership Award.

Prior to her decade at the Chicago Botanic Garden, she served as vice president of exhibitions and education at the world-renown Field Museum, as well as held curatorial roles at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Art Institute of Chicago, and started her career leading the property department at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Sophia serves on the board of trustees of Wellesley College and The Art Institute of Chicago, and formerly was active on the board of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

She is a USA Triathlon certified coach specializing in paratriathlon. Sophia is the 2022 Volunteer of the Year at Dare2Tri, a leading nonprofit specializing in adaptive sports. She also volunteers for the Rape, Assault, and Incest National Network (RAINN), the national’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. She has served as president of the board of the Arts Club of Chicago, and of her condominium association.

Sophia holds both a B.A. (Wellesley College) and an M.A. (University of Chicago) in art history, and an M.B.A. in finance (Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University).