Virtually from the time she was admitted to the bar until 2002, Shelly was a member of the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers, the oldest women’s bar association. During that time, she sat on M.A.W.L.’s Board of Directors, culminating in 2001. Shelly co-chaired MAWL’s Scholarship Foundation and its fundraising events, including an annual Gala and Live Auction for several years. She was a member of the foundation’s Board of Directors until 2002. A former resident of Malden herself, she was President of “The Judge Emma Fall Schofield Charitable Fund,” resulting from “Emma Fall Schofield Day--Celebrating 60 Years of Women on the Bench.” During this same time she was also a member of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts and B’nai B’rith Realty Unit.

In 1995, Shelly joined the national women’s professional organization, Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, having already been a member of its local chapter, New England Women in Real Estate (NEWiRE) since 1994. She was an active member of NEWiRE’s Membership Committee for over seven years, and is a former NEWiRE National Delegate to CREW Network. She was a founding member of NEWiRE’s CREW Network Committee, in order to facilitate information about CREW to NEWiRE members. In addition to co-chairing the Leisure Committee for CREW’s 2001 Annual Convention in Boston, she also participated on the Volunteer Committee for CREW’s Regional Convention in Boston and as a member of the Planning Committee for CREW’s Annual Convention in Boston in the Fall of 2009.

In recognition of her dedication to the organization and its members, Shelly was the first recipient of NEWiRE’s prestigious, “Esprit de Coeur” award in 1999. This award is now presented annually to the member who “continually puts her heart and soul into NEWiRE.” In 2006, Shelly was recognized again by NEWiRE, this time as a recipient of the Networking Award, for her work on the NEWiRE Development Project in 2005. Shelly and her committee members helped NEWiRE provide assistance to the Mission Hill Health Movement (“MHHM”) and Boston Self Help Center (“BSHC”) in their buildout of 1534 Tremont Street for offices for not-for-profit service providers.

Beyond merely facilitating professional networking in the real estate industry, CREW created a thriving charitable organization, CREW Foundation dedicated to advancing the success of women in commercial real estate through charitable, philanthropic, and education programs. Beginning in 2002, Shelly served a three year term as a Trustee of CREW Foundation. Shelly also co-chaired CREW Foundation’s national project, CREW Careers: Building Opportunities, a hands-on classroom designed to open the eyes of teenage girls to the many career opportunities available to them in the commercial real estate industry. Launched in 2005, CREWCareers has since been implemented in 31 CREW Network chapters, reaching nearly 3,000 girls. Since the end of her term with CREWCareers in 2008, Shelly has helped to plan the local CREWCareers event with NEWiRE.

In addition to being involved in professional and industry organizations, Shelly’s organization and fundraising abilities were put to the test when she co-chaired the American Heart Association's Hearts in Bloom Campaign for 1995, and was Chairwoman for the 1996 campaign.

Over the years, Shelly and her family have made many contributions to a number of deserving charitable organizations. However, closest to her heart, has been St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude’s, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the world’s premier pediatric cancer research centers. Its mission is to find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Shelly has been an active volunteer on the planning committee for TomorrowNite, New England’s premier gala to benefit St. Jude’s, for over fifteen years, and has chaired the Silent Auction committee for more than ten years. In a year where charitable giving decreased by the largest margin in five years, the 2009 TomorrowNite gala raised over $200,000.00 for the hospital, approximately $50,000.00 of which came from the Silent Auction.

Locally, she is a member of the Executive Committee of the Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation (MVJF) and chairs its Allocations Committee. The MVJF is the central communal organization, which supports education and social programs locally and abroad. The MVJF conducts an annual fundraising campaign for local and overseas needs, and promotes Jewish programming in the Merrimack Valley. As chair of Allocations, Shelly, along with her committee, determine which organizations will receive what percentage of funds raised by the MVJF. She also co-chairs the “PJ Library” initiative for the MVJF. PJ Library is an outreach program that provides high quality, age appropriate Jewish Books and Music free of charge to children, ages 6 months – 5 ½ years throughout the Merrimack Valley. Locally, Shelly has helped to expand the program to include social and religious activities for the families involved, including regular newsletters and holiday parties.

She is also a contributing author of Massachusetts Real Estate Liens, published by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. In 2001 Shelly was elected to membership in the Abstract Club of Boston, a professional and honorary society limited to 100 lawyers practicing in the Greater Boston area, focusing on matters of real estate law. Shelly is a member of New England Land Title Association (NELTA). In 2001, she was named to the Board of Directors, a position that she holds today. She has been an active member of the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts, Merrimack Valley Conveyancers’ Association and Massachusetts Association of Bank Counsel, Inc. since she was admitted to practice in 1993.