 At the same time, Shelly became a community organizer, directing a CODEPINK chapter in Madison, WI and was an active member of the then Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua.Through solidarity relationships with the women's social movement in Nicaragua (Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres), Grabe became learned in women of Color and “Third World” feminisms from a grassroots, decolonial perspective.She used this perspective to push a new area of inquiry into the investigation of social inequities or male dominance in a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary context.