Rhonda Allen Shirley, a native of Philadelphia, Mississippi, brings extensive experience in the political arena, having worked at the local, state, and national levels. She has served on the staffs of Congressman Ronnie Shows and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy. Rhonda’s career highlights include her service on the White House Advance staff during the Clinton Administration, the Clinton Foundation and with the White House Office of Advance. In these roles, she has supported presidential policy initiatives and high-profile events, working closely with foreign governments, dignitaries, and senior officials on political, diplomatic, and logistical matters both domestically and abroad.
Rhonda has traveled extensively in support of presidential and international initiatives, accompanying official delegations to Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Haiti, the Faroe Islands, and Indonesia. More recently, she provided advance support for major international engagements, including the Global Climate Summits in Scotland (2021) and Egypt (2022), the G7 Summit in Germany (2022), the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Ireland (2023), a meeting with King Charles III at Windsor Castle in England (2023), and the 80th Anniversary of D-Day commemorations in France (2024).
Rhonda holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State University and a Master of Liberal Arts degree from Tulane University. She also completed an Extension Service Fellowship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Actively engaged in her community, Rhonda serves as a Municipal Election Commissioner for the City of Ridgeland and has contributed her expertise through service on the Advocacy Committee of the American Heart Association and the Curriculum Committee of Empowering Communities for a Healthy Mississippi. She also served a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Food Policy Council, supporting policies that advance food access, nutrition, healthy food financing initiative, and community well-being across the state.
