ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT women's rowing senior Ellen Shepard has been nominated for a spot on the Allstate NACDA Good Works Team, a national honor recognizing student‑athletes for leadership and excellence in community service. The final team will be announced near the end of April.

Shepard, a biochemistry major from Indianapolis, Ind., has built a wide‑ranging service portfolio focused on strengthening communities through connection and belonging during her time as a student-athlete at RIT. Her work spans campus leadership, academic support, athletic service initiatives, and community engagement throughout the greater Rochester area.

Within the RIT College of Science, Shepard serves as president of the College of Science Student Activities Board (COSSAB), where she has led initiatives aimed at improving student belonging and long‑term academic support. She assisted in the development of a college‑wide peer mentoring program that now supports approximately 80 new science students each year and helped implement student‑success initiatives focused on course registration assistance and alumni connection. Shepard also helped organize an annual card‑writing initiative that sends more than 2,500 handwritten cards from current students to admitted students, along with a College of Science Thanksgiving food drive benefiting a local food bank.

In addition to her leadership roles, Shepard works directly with students as a teaching assistant, laboratory assistant, and supplemental instruction leader, supporting learning in multiple classroom settings. She also serves as a notetaker for deaf and hard‑of‑hearing students, providing detailed course notes to improve access and academic success.

Through rowing, Shepard has held leadership positions as RIT Rowing's community service chair and SAAC representative. In those roles, she coordinated team participation in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, Walking for Rochester's river beautification project, and volunteer efforts at regional regattas. She also spearheaded the RIT rowing team's annual Erg‑a‑thon, raising more than $8,000 annually for RESTORE Sexual Assault Services, supporting community education, advocacy, and survivor services in Central and Western New York.

On the water, Shepherd has been a consistent member of the varsity lineup, contributing to first‑place finishes at the Dad Vail Regatta and New York State Championships, along with a second‑place finish at the 2023 Liberty League Championships. She is a three‑time CRCA National Scholar Athlete, three‑time Liberty League All‑Academic Team selection, a member of Chi Alpha Sigma, and a 2023 All‑Tiger Team honoree. Shepard maintains a 3.99 GPA and has earned Dean's List recognition throughout her career, in addition to honors including RIT Presidential Scholar and John Wiley Jones Outstanding Student in Science.

The Allstate NACDA Good Works Team is an initiative to recognize and honor student-athletes who demonstrate levels of volunteerism and civic engagement that are above and beyond their success and achievements in the classroom and competition. The goal of the program is to provide recognition for these future community leaders, their teams, academic institutions, and the communities they support.