Shannon Hayden is the Senior Director for the Southeast Asia program at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is the lead for the Chamber's work in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Brunei. Before joining the Chamber in 2018, she was associate director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she oversaw region-wide project development and funder relations. Prior to joining CSIS, Hayden worked for Vice News reporting on Asia-Pacific political and security developments; as a consultant in Singapore focusing on regional energy, conservation, and logistics issues; and as a contributor to Biden administration Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell’s book The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia.

Earlier in her career, she served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Secretaries Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel, where she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. At the Pentagon, Hayden served as country director for China, assisting in shaping the military relationship between the United States and China. She also helped manage adjustments to U.S. military posture in the Indo-Pacific, including major force movements in Australia (U.S. Marines and air assets) and Singapore (littoral combat ships). Before that, she worked on Iraq-, Afghanistan-, and Pakistan-related post-conflict reconstruction issues at CSIS and the International Organization for Migration.

Hayden holds a master’s degree from George Washington University with a concentration in international law and organizations and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia with a double major in international relations and art history. She is from Marietta, Georgia.