Her Story
About Shaneequa
Shaneequa Vereen serves as the Artemis II public affairs lead and Astronaut Public Affairs Officer at NASA. Based in Houston, Texas, she has spent eight and a half years with the agency, including a year and a half as a Flight Operations Director at PAO before her current assignment to the Artemis team in March. In this role, Vereen manages media outreach and appearances for the Artemis II crew, supports post-flight community outreach efforts, and previously led the sample reveal for the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission at the Johnson Space Center. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from North Carolina State University and a master's degree in business from the University of Houston, supplemented by certifications in global management and leadership development. Vereen is a past member of PRSA and the Houston Urban League for Young Professionals, and she volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. She attributes her success to hard work, relationship building, strong interpersonal and communication skills, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Vereen advises pursuing paths that foster growth, even when challenging, and encourages women entering STEM and space fields to overcome intimidation, noting the increasing presence and impact of women at NASA.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shaneequa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I've always been a hard worker, but I will also say a bit of luck in relationship building. I do have interpersonal skills and being able to connect to others. Most of my friends would describe me as personable. Having communication skills is a necessary part of life. I call myself a lifelong learner. I learn something new every single day and use it in my everyday life.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
A fellow NC State graduate and alumna, Christina Cook, always says to do something that scares you. I feel like that is something I've followed, even when I didn't know the outlook. I always went the path that scared me, not the easy path, but the path that I would see growth. Those challenges are needed for growth.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
This field has grown for women here at NASA. It can be intimidating because space isn't a traditional girl's nerd-out job or industry. But it's something you can learn. I didn't come in as the space nerd. Women shouldn't be intimidated by space or the technology in STEM fields. It's a place that we should go and that we are helping to tell future stories, and the voices are of women.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The opportunities right now, there's not just NASA anymore, there's all these commercial companies and industrial partners that now have their own space agencies and teams and private astronauts. It's continually growing. Right now is a great time to be in space with the Artemis campaign. The speed at which things are changing can be a downside. Space is hard.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being dependable, doing things you say you're gonna do, and making sure you give it 110%. Integrity, doing what you say you're gonna do not only factually but to the best of your abilities, and making sure the job you do is something that you're going to be proud of. Agility or adaptiveness because my job is more sometimes reactive than proactive. News happens, things break, you have to be agile and flexible.
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