A member of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, LaNell Shirley is a Title IX & Civil Rights investigator at Grand River Solutions with extensive experience from serving as a senior investigator at multiple California universities. She was responsible for investigating university complaints involving discrimination and harassment based on protected classes for faculty and staff. LaNell also served as the complaint resolution officer at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Southern California (USC) where she conducted Title IX investigations for student and faculty populations. In addition to her investigative responsibilities and heavy caseload, LaNell helped establish the procedural framework and report writing standards governing investigation for UCLA and assisted with outreach, training, and programming for the broader campus community. Her investigation reports have been used as model templates for the UC system.

LaNell served as an attorney with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Legal Services Office where she focused primarily in the area of family law in both state and tribal courts. She also served as the communications coordinator for The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

LaNell received her bachelor’s degree in political science and English from Arizona State University (ASU) in 2006 and received her Juris Doctorate and Indian law certificate from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU in 2012. She also is admitted to the state bar of Arizona and admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.