Shari Walker

Cornerstone • 31st March 2023

Honoring Black excellence in the workplace and beyond

Black excellence in the workplace is vital to supporting equity and inclusion. Learn how you can create successful DEIB strategies that invest in your people.

Education Week • 4th October 2021

I Lived Off Off School Lunches as a Kid. Here’s How to Make the Program Better

Growing up in poverty in the projects of the Watts projects of Los Angeles, I was dependent on free and reduced-price school lunches. Today, I am a foodie, someone who plans vacations around the food and not the destination because of the experiences of my childhood.

Like my taste palate, my life has been molded by both the good and bad I experienced growing up in poverty and with food insecurity, never being adopted, and emancipating from foster care.

Food insecurity defined my childhood. I l

Studio | ATAO • 27th September 2022

What does it mean to be an “adult”?

Much has changed in our lives during the pandemic, especially for Gen Z-ers and Millennials who are still striving to navigate career, family, and overall adulthood. In fact, in a Pew Research Center survey, young adults were particularly hard hit by the pandemic and economic downturn, with the coronavirus pandemic pushing many to move in with their family members.

PBS SoCal Fostering Change Initiaitive • 27th September 2022

Not Your Statistic

“Sugar Free Shari” is a former foster youth who entered foster care at age 14. Beating the odds of the 97% of foster youth who don’t finish college, Shari graduated from California State University Northridge. Today, she is pursuing her Master’s degree in Social Work at USC and continuing her passion for social justice advocacy.

The Imprint • 7th September 2017

Four Things Every Foster Youth Should Know Before College

Many people who work with the child welfare system know that only three percent of foster youth graduate from college. This means that, despite the number of youth who enroll, most do not finish.

Since exiting foster care I have graduated from Santa Monica Community College and California State University, Northridge, and I will enter my first year at the University of Southern California as a graduate student in social work this fall.

Graduating college is not easy, but I’m going to share my

Alliance for Children's Rights • 22nd April 2017

Community Voices: Shari Walker

This month we are featuring a range of voices from our community of outstanding young leaders who have experienced foster care firsthand. Recently, DCFS announced the search for a new director, and our young leaders have offered their thoughts on the qualities and concerns that they hope will factor into the hiring process.

Shari Walker is a journalist, office manager at Fostering Media Connections, member of the Opportunity Youth Collaborative Young Leaders, and former Human Service Aid at DCF

Medium • 30th October 2021

5 Unique Things I Learned From My Snap Academy Experience

When I applied for the Snap Storytelling Academy this summer, I wasn’t sure that I a new mom and recent graduate would be chosen.

I entered Snap not feeling good enough, and graduated from the Snap Academy feeling empowered and ready to take action to create change.

KPCC - NPR News for Southern California - 89.3 FM • 15th September 2016

How educators can help homeless and foster youth overcome instability

A team of local educators has won a $10 million grant to start a school serving foster and homeless youth in Los Angeles.

The money comes from Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, as part of a competition she funded, "XQ: The Super School Project."

The school, called RISE, will launch with the aim of helping a population that is often challenged with the instability of frequent moves.

Take Two’s Deepa Fernandes spoke with Shari Walker, a former foster youth, to und

The Imprint • 20th May 2016

Rain Upon My Spirit: The Power of a Careless Remark

I am 25 years old, and still learning what it means to thrive versus simply survive after transitioning out of the foster care system.

At a recent foster care event, I scanned the room from where I sat, watching the various child welfare and juvenile justice leaders, social workers, probation officers and foster youth in attendance.

I was the keynote speaker for the event, and knew that, regardless of my past, I had become a woman who had lived the testimony of resilience. I felt confident, st

Medium • 30th October 2021

How I Lost My Work Space in Motherhood and I Love It…

How I Lost My Work Space in Motherhood and I Love It…

I have sat in a 2x2 space in the corner of my child's playroom going on eight weeks now.

I strategically placed the small folded floor table at an angle to hide my laptop that my 1-year-old daughter has most recently found fascinating.

Medium • 25th September 2022

You Are A Miracle. Not A Nightmare.

You Are A Miracle. Not A Nightmare.

A poem for when life throws everything at you…

Note: This is a spoken word poem I wrote that I transcribed to share with you. I hope that on the journey you are taking that your heart is filled with joy. And if you are still working to get your heart untwisted, that you find inspiration to keep hoping into positive action. Thank you for reading and stopping by! Sending…

Los Angeles Playwrights Initiative • 23rd June 2019

Shari Walker – LAFPI

We know that when there is cultural and racial equality in theatre, it makes room for artists of all walks of life to contribute to the history of theatre. It is vital that we make room, make way for women from all backgrounds to have a chance to have their voices included in the future of theatre. It is my delight to introduce the yummy yummy Shari Walker! Shari continues to defy stereotypes and expectations. A #HFF19 Scholarship recipient, Shari states, “SUGARFREE FOSTER CARE combines the diff

Medium • 29th September 2022

Growth Spurts Thru Adulting

A poem about the valleys and mountains of adulting…

Systems that force growth spurts — that leave the echoing sounds of tears — that those forced to grow up don’t have time to spill.

She stood unprepared for the world.

Taking quick breaths as if she was a swimmer and the world was the Olympic games.