Clients have included national organizations, such as the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Artspace and VocalEssence; regional service organizations seeking to build arts and culture capacity, such as the Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Commission and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs; city and county governments in rural, suburban and micropolitan areas seeking to develop cultural plans, such as the cities of St. Louis Park, Little Falls, Grand Marais, Moorhead, and New York Mills, MN. Clients have also included many artist-led organizations and organizations serving underrepresented artists.

 

Before her 2018 return to a full-time consulting practice, for the past decade she built and led ArtsLab, a capacity building program of Arts Midwest dedicated to developing the core leadership skills and management capabilities of community-based arts organizations and regional arts and culture networks throughout the Upper Midwest. Prior to her work in the arts sector, she worked in health care administration, primarily within the Medical Affairs Division of Allina health system, as well as serving as the administrative director of the Phillips Eye Institute.

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Sharon has taught in the University of Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Leadership graduate program as well as the St. Mary’s University’s graduate program in Arts and Cultural Management, in the areas of nonprofit management, strategic planning and program evaluation. 

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She holds an MPH in community health administration and an MSW in human services administration, both from the University of Minnesota, as well as a BA in environmental biology. She is a certified facilitator, trained through the Minnesota chapter of the Institute of Cultural Affairs.  She is an accomplished pianist, is passionate about the concerns of our natural world, and loves to trek through woods and mountains.