What happens when healing one child has the power to change generations? Shonnery Pettit, Past President of the Board of Directors for the Center for Child Protection, joins Tes Silverman to share how a childhood lesson in kindness grew into decades of child advocacy and community service. From protecting children experiencing abuse to helping families heal and break generational cycles, Shonnery shows how compassion put into action can create an impact far beyond one life.
Shonnery Pettit doesn’t just live in a community; she builds, protects, and champions it. Driven by a single, powerful question—“What is in the best interest of the community we live in?”—Shonnery has spent decades turning empathy into massive, measurable impact.
As the Immediate Past President of the Board of Directors for the Center for Child Protection, Shonnery’s decade-long dedication has been nothing short of historic. Under her fierce leadership, the Center raised a record-breaking $97 million and walked alongside over 14,000 children through their darkest hours. Her passion for service ignited years ago in Dallas, where she founded the Ignite Running Club, a nonprofit serving children living in a homeless shelter.
Today, her philanthropic footprint is woven into the very fabric of Texas. Shonnery is a Founding Board member for the Round Top Film Festival—where she works to inspire and educate the next generation of cinematic storytellers—and serves on the Advisory Board of Foster Village. You can also find her driving success on the gala committees for the Andy Roddick Foundation, MJ&M (Mack, Jack & McConaughey) Fashion Show, and The Trail Conservancy, alongside past work with the Texas Advocacy Project, United Way, and Austin City Limits/PBS.
A Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholar with an MBA from Texas Tech University, Shonnery is as sharp in the boardroom as she is engaging on stage. A passionate public speaker, she recently had the honor of delivering the 2024 Commencement address for Chaparral Star Academy.
And if you think she only moves fast in the nonprofit world, guess again. Shonnery was a Celebrity Dancer for the 2015 Dancing with the Stars Austin and loves spending her free time kickboxing, traveling, and studying French and Spanish. She has been happily married to her husband, Tom, for 26 years, and is the proud mom of two grown sons: Blake, who excels at Accenture, and Brett, a Vanderbilt graduate working as a financial wealth manager at Baird.
“What I loved most about being the President of the Board at the Center for Child Protection is working with an incredible group of talented and selfless people that truly exceed all expectations and make a difference in little lives. “ – Shonnery Pettit
To learn more about Shonnery Pettit and the Center for Child Protection:
Facebook for the Center for Child Protection: https://www.facebook.com/Center4CP?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=ObJSfJbxGrQeua7S&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2F1BaEAvCSQG%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr#
IG for Round Top Film Festival:
https://www.instagram.com/roundtopfilmfestival
IG for The Trail Conservancy:
https://www.instagram.com/thetrailconservancy
IG for Mack, Jack & McConaughey:
https://www.instagram.com/mackjackmcconaughey
For another powerful conversation about protecting children and breaking cycles of abuse, listen to Tes’s conversation with Misty Griffin, author of Tears of the Silenced. https://revwoman.com/podcast/misty-griffin-author-of-tears-of-the-silenced/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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This episode used the following music: Time to Shine by tubebackr & Popsicles https://soundcloud.com/tubebackr https://soundcloud.com/popsiclesmusic Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/tubebackr-and-popsicles/time-to-shine Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Cvbjhx6X4ZY