Sharon Barker

Sharon E. Barker (July 29, 1949 – November 18, 2023) In the third grade she befriended Ruth Lockhart, with whom she would co-found the Mabel Sine Wadsworth Women's Health Center.

Career

After graduation, Barker helped manage the Community House, an adult-education program in Fort Fairfield, and worked briefly as a taxi driver. Barker was the center's first president. the Girls' Collaborative Project, $tart $mart salary negotiation workshops, and the annual "Expanding Your Horizons" conference that brings 500 middle school girls to campus to explore career opportunities in the STEM fields. Barker was also a frequent speaker and workshop presenter on health care, gender equality, and women's rights.

Memberships Barker was a member of numerous state nonprofit boards and committees, including the Penobscot Valley American Association of University Women, Maine Women's Fund, Eastern Regional Commission for Women, Good Samaritan Agency, Bangor CUReS Project, Bangor Rape Crisis Center, Women's Business Development Corporation, the Komen Foundation, and the Maine Jobs Council. She established the Maine chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Awards and honors Barker received the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award from the National Education Association in 1997. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2009.

Barker died on November 18, 2023.