Shelley's membership in Not In Our Town Princeton is a reflection of her life-long journey as a Quaker and an activist. She came of age during the emergence of the AIDS epidemic, and grew to appreciate the fierce creativity that AIDS activists brought to their protests.

Her commitment to racial justice work is informed by the query posed by fellow Quaker Liz Oppenheimer, who in 2014, in the wake of Mike Brown's death, asked, "How is your commitment to racial justice reflected in your calendar, your checkbook, and your conversations?”