Cheryl A. Sharp will receive the Citizen of the Law Award at the CBA’s annual awards celebration, Celebrate with the Stars, on Wednesday, May 3. Attorney Sharp has served as the deputy director of the State of Connecticut Commission on Human Rights (CHRO) since she was appointed to the position on July 4, 2014.
Attorney Sharp represents the state in the prosecution of complaints of discrimination before the CHRO's Office of Public Hearings as well as in state and federal court. She has argued before various Connecticut courts, including appearances before the Connecticut Supreme Court, and has negotiated millions of dollars in settlements between parties. She represents the CHRO in the Connecticut Safe School's Coalition and the Connecticut Racial Profiling Working Group. She is also a trainer for the CHRO's Business Training Institute. Prior to her appointment to the CHRO, Attorney Sharp served as a litigation attorney within the commission’s legal department for over 20 years. She also previously served as an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University’s Political Science Department for six years.
In addition to being a member of the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Criminal Justice System, Attorney Sharp is a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and previously served as a sitting member on the state legislature’s Fair Housing Choice Impediments to Fair Housing Task Force. She serves on the board of directors of the Scandinavian School of Jersey City, a non-profit organization that focuses on the Reggio Emilia approach to education and enrichment. She also serves on the board of the National Association of Multicultural Education.
Attorney Sharp has developed several programs and projects to increase students' awareness about civil and human rights laws, including the statewide Connecticut Kids Court Competition and Kids Speak event, which educates students about diversity and civil and human rights issues. In 1993 she co-developed the competition as a UConn Law student. The competition originally served the Greater Hartford Area and was expanded statewide in 1996. After a ten-year hiatus, the competition was relaunched in 2011 and continues to take place annually. For the competition, students are asked to write a short essay on one of six civil rights topics. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, each annual competition began with the option for students to attend the in-person Kids Speak event at UConn School of Law, where they would participate in group exercises, debates, and hear from a panel of experts on diversity issues, educational equity, anti-bullying, and school climate. Attorney Sharp was also involved in the creation of the documentary Inclusion: Students Looking Beyond the ADA.
Attorney Sharp received her bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and her business degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She attended The Campaign School at Yale University and received her law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
The Citizen of the Law Award is presented to a judge, attorney, or paralegal who has made a significant contribution to a charitable or public service cause that does not involve professional legal skills, but provides inspiration and contributes to the needy, the good of society, the environment, or our way of life. These activities have been undertaken on a non-professional, charitable basis with little or no personal economic reward, and some personal sacrifice.
View the complete list of this year’s Celebrate with the Stars awardees.
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