What does it mean to have someone in your corner — and what happens when you become that person for someone else?
Shannon Oury is the Executive Director and CEO of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, a role she’s held for roughly 16 years.
Before that, she was the agency’s attorney and served on its board. But her path there was anything but predetermined.
Shannon grew up in Oklahoma in a family whose story had been dramatically changed by the generations before her.
Her grandmother — “Big Mom” — was orphaned at four years old during the 1918 flu epidemic and grew up in difficult circumstances. Years later, with little more than four cows to the family’s name, she mortgaged those cows to start a café. She eventually went back to school, became a teacher, and after retiring, started Meals on Wheels in her community.
That example carried forward.
Shannon remembers growing up knowing two things: her family delighted in who she was, and they believed she was capable of building something for herself. Her mother’s message wasn’t simply, “You can be anything you want to be.” It was: “You can be anything you want to be if you work hard enough to do it.”
After college, Shannon moved to Colorado, went to law school, and began building a successful legal career. But experiences early in that career caused her to reconsider what she wanted her life to look like. With two young children, she shifted her focus away from climbing the corporate ladder and toward family, meaningful work, and eventually Lawrence, Kansas.
That journey ultimately led her away from a law-firm partnership and into public service.
Today, much of Shannon’s work revolves around something her own family experienced firsthand: creating opportunity.
We talk about poverty, housing, education, the growing difficulty of achieving the American dream, and why stable housing can provide the foundation someone needs to begin moving forward.
Shannon also shares how the Housing Authority goes beyond simply providing a place to live — helping people pursue education and job training, obtain certifications, gain skills, and, when possible, eventually move out of assisted housing and into the broader market.
But underneath all of it is a much bigger conversation about the people who build us.
Shannon says whatever success she has achieved came from “standing on other people’s shoulders.”
And perhaps one of the most important ideas in this conversation is also one of the simplest:
Every kid deserves a champion in their corner.
Not everyone gets a Big Mom.
But maybe each of us has an opportunity to become one for somebody else.
This is a conversation about family, work, housing, education, community, purpose — and carrying forward what others once gave us.
In this episode:
- The influence of Shannon’s grandmother, “Big Mom”
- Growing up with adventure, imagination, and high expectations
- Why education became a generational value in her family
- Leaving Colorado and reconsidering the corporate ladder
- Choosing meaningful work and public service
- The realities of poverty and affordable housing
- Why stable housing can change much more than where someone sleeps
- Helping families build skills and move toward economic independence
- Whether the American dream is becoming harder to achieve
- Why education and learning still matter
- The importance of having a champion in your corner
- Finding purpose by paying attention to what keeps pulling you back
The Fort Builders - How We Become Who We Are
