Ali Foley Shenk

Ali graduated from Boston College with a BA in human development and education and from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary with an MA in counseling. She now does neither. In her past lives, Ali has been a preschool teacher, jewelry designer, educational research intern at Sesame Street, and therapist—all before falling into editing by accident!

Ali began as a freelance editor and proofreader, working on journals for the American Heart Association, American Society for Microbiology, and others. She expanded her fields of work by becoming a proofreader for court reporters and editing doctoral dissertations and independent works in horticulture, education, rare diseases, environmental concerns, theology, and parenting. Ali began as a contractor with Dragonfly Editorial in March 2020 (a pandemic is a great time to switch jobs!) and then came on full time in September 2020 as a senior editor for science and medicine.

As a Dragonfly, Ali has flourished on a team of positive, intelligent, hardworking individuals, and she enjoys each and every day of work. Focusing on editing as well as project management and direct work with clients, Ali gets the satisfaction of making her clients’ lives easier and making materials more accessible to their readers. She’s always willing to take on a new challenge—as she often says, “Do something that scares you on a regular basis.” Dragonfly gives her many opportunities to pursue new editing adventures!

Ali is also a musician of over 30 years and plays in an “alternafolkrock” band called WKNDR, based out of Richmond, Virginia. She sings and plays bass, flute, ukulele, keys, and guitar (and likes to acquire instruments). In 2010, Ali was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, the winnings from which she used to pay off her student loans.

She is married to Bob, a hospital chaplain, and has three tween/teen boys who are constantly in a pool or gym. She loves being a boy mom!