Leading by Example | UnidosUS

Shandy Moore Reed: Author, Advocate and Philanthropist

In 2022, author Shandy Moore Reed was working at Pfizer and attended the UnidosUS Annual Conference in San Antonio as part of the company’s Multicultural Health Equity Collective. “I was excited to learn about UnidosUS. I still have pages of notes from that conference,” Shandy said.  

A native of Houston, Shandy describes herself as a passionate advocate for health and education. She earned her bachelor’s in biology with plans to go to medical school, but a gap year at a private middle school set her on a different path. Working as a temp in the attendance office, she was asked a week after graduation if she knew anyone who could teach 6th grade math. “I could do it,” Shandy responded. She ended up teaching 5th and 6th graders for four years. “It was an awesome job that truly shaped me.” 

Shandy has followed a diverse career path, working in the biopharmaceutical industry, K-12 education and higher education. She is also a staunch advocate for philanthropy. “I was raised to be a giver. I’m a big believer that you give back to where you come from,” she said.  Among other causes, she supports the Alzheimer’s Association (after losing her father to the disease), the Neuhaus Education Center (a literacy and dyslexia training/therapy organization) and UnidosUS  through sales of her new book, because writing is another passion of hers. 

“At the 2022 Conference, a panelist noted that only 6.2% of children’s books in the U.S. have Latino characters. As a literacy advocate, I was frustrated with that statistic,” Shandy explained. This inspired her to write, This Way to the Sun, which features a Latina main character. During Hispanic Heritage Month 2024, Shandy partnered with UnidosUS and donated 15% of proceeds from her book sales. “It’s been awesome to partner with UnidosUS for their annual giving campaign,” she said. 

“We live in a multicultural world and UnidosUS has a deep commitment to diversity and civil rights. I respect and appreciate that work, and anything I can do to champion it, I’m glad to do,” Shandy said. “If everyone just does a little bit, we can have an impact and drive change where it’s needed most.” 

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