Sharon BarrettOur all-volunteer Board of Directors is a remarkable group of people who set the vision for BCAction and lead the organization by determining organizational policy, assuring the organization’s financial security, and representing BCAction’s views to the world at large. In May 2016, we welcomed Sharon E. Barrett to our Board of Directors  and are excited to introduce you to her here. For information about our Board of Directors, click here

Sharon E. Barrett, DrPH, MS, has over forty years of leadership in public, nonprofit and private sectors in the areas of program development, administration and public health practice. In her last Federal Public Health Service position, Dr. Barrett created and served as the Director of Minority and Women’s Health in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Primary Health Care. Retired since 2003, she is the founder and principal of S.E.B. and Associates, LLC, and currently consults on and provides training to health professionals on a wide range of issues including: public health, primary care and oral health, minority and women’s health disparities, health literacy, language access and cultural competency. Her clients have been both global and domestic including government, nonprofit associations and NGOs. In Australia, Dr. Barrett provided consultation to the Centre of Culture, Ethnicity and Health on an initiative to develop health literacy curriculum and provide training to service providers in Victoria. Before rotating off of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Roundtable on Health Literacy, after being an active member for six years representing safety net providers, Dr. Barrett spearheaded the development of the IOM’s Oral Health Literacy Workshop.

She is currently serving on the technical working group that created the revised SOAR curriculum that was sponsored by two Public Health Service entities, the Agency for Children and Families and OASH’s Office on Women’s Health. Dr. Barrett also participated in the development of the PHS ACF/OWH Look Beneath the Surface Campaign on human trafficking.  Dr. Barrett continues to serve on a number of committees and boards. She is a Board member and Secretary for the Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC) and serves as the organization’s Mid-Atlantic ICC Regional Leader. She is also a Board member of the Gaston and Porter Health Improvement Center. She received her Masters of Science at Columbia University’s School of Social Work in New York and her Doctorate in Public Health at Morgan State University’s School of Community Health and Policy. Dr. Barrett also serves as an adjunct professor in the Public Health Sciences Program at the University of Maryland-CP at the Shady Grove, Maryland campus.

She was compelled to serve on the Breast Cancer Action Board of Directors because women are being diagnosed with breast cancer at earlier ages and the disease often goes undiagnosed because they believe they are too young, plus doctors often tell patients they are too young to have breast cancer — a paradigm that needs to shift. She also believes there is a direct link between breast cancer and the environment. Therefore, she’s most interested in exploring environmental factors that may impact women’s susceptibility to breast cancer. Being part of Breast Cancer Action’s board allows her to reengage in her advocacy and grassroots activities.