Shelley Davis is an attorney with more than 25 years of experience.  For 18 years she has been an advocate for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.  Since May 1996 she has been the Deputy Director of the Farmworker Justice.

Ms. Davis is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA (BA 1973 cum laude) and Catholic University, Columbus School of Law, Washington D.C. (JD 1978).  Prior to joining FJ, she worked for the Migrant Legal Action Program, the Political Rights Defense Fund and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago.

At FJ, Ms. Davis focuses on issues of health and safety, especially pesticides, access to health care, leadership development, and immigration issues.  She has written or co-authored a number of reports and articles including: Messages from Monitoring: Farmworkers, Pesticides and the Need for Reform (2005); Promoting a Clean Environment for Healthy Kids (2004); The Ones the Law Forgot: Children Working in Agriculture (2000); Improving Farmworkers' Access to Workers Compensation Benefits (1999); and Indifference to Safety: Florida’s Investigation into Pesticide Poisoning of Farmworkers (1998).  She has also represented farmworkers and their organizations in litigation, including a successful action to ban the use of the pesticide dinoseb, which causes birth defects, Northwest Food Processors v. Reilly, 886 F.2d 1075 (9th Cir. 1990) In addition, she serves on an  EPA national advisory committee Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors of Beyond Pesticides.

In November 2006, Ms. Davis received the Reginald Heber Smith Award at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s annual conference.  The award pays tribute to her distinguished history as an advocate for the rights of the underserved and reflects the support of her colleagues, both past and present.

On March 15, 2008, she received the Dragonfly Life-time Achievement Award from Beyond Pesticides.