Meet Shelley

Shelley Ciccia-Peterson is a Peruvian-born American living in Ward 14 for 18 years.  As a child immigrant, Shelley understood early on the importance of adapting quickly, being the oldest in her family and needing to help her family acclimate and adjust to a new world.  Poverty was a constant reminder that she wanted a better future for herself and her future family.  

 

Shelley grew up in East Providence living in Riverside in her early years and moving to central East Providence in high school.  Buying a home was always the dream for her parents.  That home was pivotal as she began understanding the reasons why her parents wanted more for their children and the toll it took on them as working class people.  She was the first in her family to graduate from college and the first to receive her Masters degree.  

 

Shelley attended college in Boston and in-part attributes her tenacity and drive from working in organizations in Boston.  Working in the non-profit sector for many years, Shelley now has her own small business as a grant-writer and consultant.

 

A mom of two, Shelley and her husband Doug have been active in the community for many years.  Doug is an active Baseball coach for Elmhurst Youth Baseball and she was played a founding role in the renovations at Fargnoli.  Knowing that kids need to have many spaces to provide enrichment so that kids can learn new interests in and out of school is part of her motivation to pursue office.

 

The city of Providence needs a person like Shelley who will continue to work hard to ensure that the Ward’s neighbors are represented.  Shelley believes that in City leadership, your focus is to ensure that the needs are residents are of primary concern.  Bringing back the commitment to providing quality resources at a local level and doing it to exceed expectations, allows for deeper level impact about the larger needs that are necessary to make the city prosper.