Prior to her tenure at United States Artists, she established and led the Leonard and Susan Bay Nimoy Foundation.

[8][9][10] DeShaw graduated from Duluth east high school[11] in 1974 and attended Colorado College from 1974 to 1977, where she majored in Political Science and Art History.

Notable USA Fellows of United States Artists include Frank Big Bear; Mark Bradford; Lee Isaac Chung; Monica Ponce de Leon;[25] Anna Halprin; Quiara Alegría Hudes; Barry Jenkins; Catherine Opie; Anna Deavere Smith; Luis Valdez; Chris Ware; etc.

[27][28][29] In 2016, she became the deputy director for Advancement and External Relations for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures where she built the fundraising, marketing, and communications teams for the Renzo Piano-designed film center.

[30][31] In December 2020, DeShaw completed its $388 million capital campaign chaired by Bob Iger of The Walt Disney Company, Annette Bening, and Tom Hanks.