Shelly Tygielski

Shelly Tygielski is a doctoral candidate (PhilD) at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, where her research examines the legal and tax implications of monetary mutual aid in the United States. She is the co-founder of Partners in Kind, an equity fund and foundation that focuses on social impact storytelling to shift culture. She is also the founder of the CNN Heroes-featured Pandemic of Love, a global mutual aid network that has facilitated over $200M in direct aid. She has extensive professional experience at the intersection of philanthropy, community care, and public policy. Her work focuses on how informal systems of giving and support operate alongside, and often outside of, traditional nonprofit and government frameworks.