Speaker Profile

Shaheewa Jarrett Gelin serves as General Counsel and Vice President of Compliance for Gelin Benefits Group, where she provides legal counsel and oversees compliance with federal and state health care laws. Earlier in her career, she served for more than 17 years as a federal litigator with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In 2017, Gelin founded the Broward County Black Chamber of Commerce to advocate for Black-owned businesses and expand economic opportunity throughout Broward County. Since its launch in 2018, the Chamber has grown to serve hundreds of members while focusing on access to capital, public policy advocacy, business certifications and connecting entrepreneurs with leaders in the public and private sectors.

Gelin is an active civic leader who chairs the Broward County Small Business Development Advisory Board and the Broward County Public Schools Small Business Advisory Board. She also serves on the Broward County Racial Equity Task Force and is Board Chair of OIC Strategic Integration. Her previous leadership roles include service with the League of Women Voters of Broward County, the Broward County Human Rights Board and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida.

Gelin earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, with honors, from Florida State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law. She also completed Duke University’s nonprofit management program and is an alumna of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Reinventing Our Communities program.