Shanida previously served as editorial content manager at Rutgers University-Newark. Previously, she was a television news producer for two decades and earned an Emmy nomination for a special broadcast on Hurricane Sandy. She holds a B.A. in journalism from Virginia Union University, an HBCU, and an M.A. in broadcast journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies from New York University. She has also written articles for Huffington Post, Caribbean Collective Magazine, USA Today, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Poughkeepsie Journal, Amsterdam News, Queens Chronicle, and Reuters.

In June 2023, Shanida was an AALS Institutional Advancement Conference panelist on making social media work.

Huffington Post: America Forced Me to Have 'The Talk' With My Black Child Before I Was Ready

Caribbean Collective Magazine: Judge Avion Benjamin Embodies Caribbean Girl Magic