Shani’s husband, Dr. Harven V. DeShield was born in Liberia, West Africa. He became a naturalized citizen of the USA in 2006 and a permanent resident of Canada in 2019. Dr. DeShield is the current Chief Executive Officer, and former Chief Legal and Operations Officer of Vivacelle Bio, Inc. He is a pharmaceutical, biomedical, and life sciences intellectual property attorney in the US, with more than 12 years’ experience. Hisrange of experience includes fundraising, patent litigation and prosecution, intellectual property transactions, due diligence, contracts and business agreements, research and joint development collaborative agreements, service, manufacturing and quality control agreements and confidentiality agreements. Dr. DeShield is also a former Vice President, Commercialization and Business Development for a developmental stage medical device company. He holds a doctorate in Biochemistry from SUNY, Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; a Masters in Biological Sciences from SUNY, Buffalo Department of Biological Sciences and a Juris Doctorate from SUNY, Buffalo Law School with a concentration in Intellectual Property and Technology Law. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology with honors from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.

Shani’s eldest son, Blair was born and raised in Mississauga, ON. He attended St. Francis Xavier University in NS and New Mexico Military Institute, finally rounding out his college career at Angelo State University in Texas. In 2015, Blair was drafted to the Edmonton Football team of the CFL and is entering his 6th season. He has made Sherwood Park his home, living with his fiance; an elementary school teacher with EPSB, and their 2 amazing dogs.

Shani’s daughter, Kaelah was also born and raised in Mississauga, ON. She graduated from Parkway North high school in St. Louis, MO and then attended University of Missouri-Kansas City where she began her University studies in Sociology. After 2 years at UMKC, Kaelah moved to Chicago with the family and completed her Bachelor of Sociology at Northeastern University in Chicago. She is enrolled at MacEwan University in the Human Resources Management Program.

Shani’s youngest son, Zachary, was born in Mississauga. He lives in Chicago and recently graduated from Concordia University with his Masters in Human Movement Sciences and is certified in Corrective Exercise Science. In middle school Zach moved with the family to St. Louis, MO and to Chicago, IL during high school. He graduated from Evanston High School in 2013, where he was football team captain for 3 years. Zach won a national football championship and two national rugby championships while doing his undergraduate degree at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. After graduating from UWW in May 2018 with his Bachelor of Education in Human and Health Performance, Zachary became Director of Sports Performance at Redline Athletics in Buffalo Grove, IL.