Shannon Reiter née Hughes

Shannon Reiter, née Hughes, serves as President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, a statewide community improvement nonprofit organization. Reiter started her career with the organization in 2004 when she joined the staff of PA CleanWays. In 2005, she took on the leadership role, and in 2010, led the organization’s merger with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. Under her leadership, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has secured millions of dollars of direct and in-kind support for local communities from both the private and public sectors and led the growth of numerous programs, including Pick-Up Pennsylvania, which has become the state’s signature grassroots community improvement program, and the creation of innovative programs such as Young Ambassadors of Pennsylvania, a program dedicated to building civic leaders and community stewards.

Throughout her tenure, Reiter oversaw the development of various strategic plans, multiple organizational restructurings, and several research initiatives focusing on litter, illegal dumping, and related enforcement. Notable research includes “Illegal Dumping in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Discovery. Recommended Policies and Programs for Future Prevention and Enforcement” (2014), “Pennsylvania Litter Research Study” (2020), “The Cost of Litter & Illegal Dumping in Pennsylvania” (2020), and most recently, the “Pennsylvania and South Carolina Litter Enforcement Study” (2023). Through these efforts, sustained over two decades, Reiter and her team have elevated the need for policy and regulatory changes in support of universal access to convenient and affordable trash disposal and recycling, brought much-needed attention to the excessive costs of litter and illegal dumping in our communities, and successfully championed the regulatory changes needed to expand access to waste disposal in rural Pennsylvania. In 2020, Reiter provided direct support to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office in developing Pennsylvania’s first Litter Action Plan in 2021.

Reiter earned a master’s degree in public administration-nonprofit management from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in 2003 and has been working to improve communities throughout her career of over twenty-five years in the nonprofit sector. Reiter is an appointed member of the Department of Environmental Protection Solid Waste Advisory Committee and regularly volunteers with numerous organizations in her community. She lives in North Huntingdon, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two children.