Shelley Diehl Geballe
Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, one of four children, Shelley Geballe has dedicated her life to advocacy for children and youth and the institutions that are intended to support their healthy growth and development.
For the past seven years she has served as co-founder, president, and co-director of Connecticut Voices for Children, a non-profit, statewide, citizen based public education organization devoted to enhancing the well-being of the state's children through research, public education, media, citizen mobilization, and youth development. Among her many passions at CT Voices, she is most committed to ensuring that children have a voice in the legislative process even though they cannot hire their own lobbyists. Through her rigorous and innovative analysis of state public policy issues affecting children, Shelley has become a trusted and sought-after counselor to state commissioners, legislative leaders, members of Congress, and newspaper editorial boards. She has testified hundreds of times before the legislature on issues that have a critical impact on children, including healthcare, mental health coverage, education, tax policy, and much more. Her work has helped shape dozens of laws and several state budgets to ensure that the needs of children are being addressed.
Shelley is also a teacher, training the next generation of children's advocates. She has served during the past decade as a lecturer and professor at the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health, the Yale Law School, the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of AIDS at Yale, and the University of Connecticut Law School. She has influenced her countless graduate students for the better of society and encouraged them to share her commitment to helping children and the disadvantaged.
Prior to founding CT Voices, Shelley was the Associate Legal Director at the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, where she litigated landmark cases that have improved the lives of children in the state. Among her many victories was Juan F v. O'Neill, a case that resulted in major increases in the budget of the state child protective system to ensure adequate child placement, healthcare, and other services for the state's abused and neglected children.
Shelley has published several books and countless research papers chronicling strengths and weaknesses of our society's treatment of children's issues, including the award-winning 1995 book Forgotten Children of the AIDS Epidemic.
She has also found time to serve on many boards and commissions. She currently serves on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health, the Task Force on Paid Family and Medical Leave, and the United Way of Connecticut's Board of Directors as vice-chair. Previously, she has served on state task forces examining Individual Development Accounts and Federal Funds Maximization; and she has consulted to the Union School of Public Health in Beijing, China, the Annie Casey Foundation, and the Legal Aid Society of Hartford.
For her work in these and other endeavors, Shelley has received numerous awards, including the Public Service Award from the Connecticut Probate Court Assembly, the Clifford Beers Recognition Award, the Youth Advocate of the Year Award, the State Legislative Leaders Foundation Award, the Circle of Care Award from the Stewart McKinney Foundation, the Elm-Ivy Award from Yale University, the Distinguished Service Award from the Connecticut Bar Association, and many more.
Shelley has a Master’s in Public Health from the Yale School of Medicine and a law degree from the Yale Law School; she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan. Among her many accomplishments in child development, her husband Gordon would tell you that she is most proud of her work rearing their three sons: Josh, Ben, and Daniel.
For the past seven years she has served as co-founder, president, and co-director of Connecticut Voices for Children, a non-profit, statewide, citizen based public education organization devoted to enhancing the well-being of the state's children through research, public education, media, citizen mobilization, and youth development. Among her many passions at CT Voices, she is most committed to ensuring that children have a voice in the legislative process even though they cannot hire their own lobbyists. Through her rigorous and innovative analysis of state public policy issues affecting children, Shelley has become a trusted and sought-after counselor to state commissioners, legislative leaders, members of Congress, and newspaper editorial boards. She has testified hundreds of times before the legislature on issues that have a critical impact on children, including healthcare, mental health coverage, education, tax policy, and much more. Her work has helped shape dozens of laws and several state budgets to ensure that the needs of children are being addressed.
Shelley is also a teacher, training the next generation of children's advocates. She has served during the past decade as a lecturer and professor at the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health, the Yale Law School, the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of AIDS at Yale, and the University of Connecticut Law School. She has influenced her countless graduate students for the better of society and encouraged them to share her commitment to helping children and the disadvantaged.
Prior to founding CT Voices, Shelley was the Associate Legal Director at the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, where she litigated landmark cases that have improved the lives of children in the state. Among her many victories was Juan F v. O'Neill, a case that resulted in major increases in the budget of the state child protective system to ensure adequate child placement, healthcare, and other services for the state's abused and neglected children.
Shelley has published several books and countless research papers chronicling strengths and weaknesses of our society's treatment of children's issues, including the award-winning 1995 book Forgotten Children of the AIDS Epidemic.
She has also found time to serve on many boards and commissions. She currently serves on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health, the Task Force on Paid Family and Medical Leave, and the United Way of Connecticut's Board of Directors as vice-chair. Previously, she has served on state task forces examining Individual Development Accounts and Federal Funds Maximization; and she has consulted to the Union School of Public Health in Beijing, China, the Annie Casey Foundation, and the Legal Aid Society of Hartford.
For her work in these and other endeavors, Shelley has received numerous awards, including the Public Service Award from the Connecticut Probate Court Assembly, the Clifford Beers Recognition Award, the Youth Advocate of the Year Award, the State Legislative Leaders Foundation Award, the Circle of Care Award from the Stewart McKinney Foundation, the Elm-Ivy Award from Yale University, the Distinguished Service Award from the Connecticut Bar Association, and many more.
Shelley has a Master’s in Public Health from the Yale School of Medicine and a law degree from the Yale Law School; she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan. Among her many accomplishments in child development, her husband Gordon would tell you that she is most proud of her work rearing their three sons: Josh, Ben, and Daniel.