Shannon McAnally Griffin is a Southern California native who grew up in the small Thoroughbred horse farm community of Bradbury, CA. Originally from a Kentucky racing industry family who worked the SoCal circuit, Shannon caught the horse bug, early and thoroughly, and it would go onto shape much of the trajectory of her life. Shannon rides primarily in the hunter-jumper discipline, and has owned many horses including several off-track thoroughbreds.
She first attended Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena, CA, then went on to university both at Drew University in Madison, NJ and at the University of Southern California.
Shannon has professional background in risk management, insurance, and sustainability; working first at AIG as an underwriter and then at Willis as a property specialist broker for Fortune 1000 national and international business.
During the last several years, she has trained to become a knowledgeable nonprofit resource, specializing in board work. She’s served on numerous nonprofit boards (501c3 and 501c7), with a focus on governance/finance/strategic planning, completed a 2 year board training program through the Annenberg Foundation’s Alchemy Program, and completed a Certificate of Board Consulting from BoardSource.
Combining her horse obsession with her skillsets, Shannon has turned her focus back to the Thoroughbred racing industry, having realized the profound need for a safe, sustainable aftercare for the retiring horses. She’s currently starting up a Santa Ynez, CA based, best practice, aftercare nonprofit (501(c)3) with her likeminded industry colleagues and fellow equestrians. In addition, she is volunteering her board consulting services to the Retired Racehorse Project.
Shannon has been married to her amazing, supportive, and kind husband, Tim Griffin, for almost 24 years. They have one son, Joseph “Joe” Griffin, who is a political science/pre law student at Loyola Marymount University. They currently make their home in La Canada, CA.