Shenandoah Cornish is a political ethnologist, storyteller, and social entrepreneur whose work examines the social dynamics of transitional justice, focusing on how memory and narrative shape post-conflict reconstruction.
She is the co-founder and co-director of Museo Minca, a community-based museum and site of memory in northern Colombia, where she has spent nearly a decade collaborating with conflict-affected communities to document and preserve local narratives. The museum has grown into a gathering place for collective memory and cultural exchange, recognized by local and national partners for its role in grassroots social reconstruction.
Her work is grounded in extensive, multi-regional fieldwork, examining questions of displacement, identity, and belonging from the ground up. This includes managing multi-country migration research for the Leir Institute and contributing to storytelling programs and grants at National Geographic. Her work is guided by a deep commitment to trauma-informed, ethical, and participatory approaches that center victims and community voices. She holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
