Author

Sharon Brisolara

Sharon Brisolara is an educator, writer, program evaluator, and Resilience and Equity Coach. She holds a masters in Human Service Administration and a PhD in Program Evaluation and Planning, with concentrations in Rural Sociology and Women’s Studies, both from Cornell University.

Sharon's Latest Articles

Underground Good: Monique Welin
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Opinion
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March 17, 2023

"At the heart of why I do what I do is my mom. She was 14 when she had me and she got no services. She tried to ask for help, but she was underserved and later got arrested for stealing food. She was put in a juvenile detention center and then she had me. I would say for the first 10 years of my life, we slept on couches. I  remember falling asleep in my mom's VW Bug and counting all the little holes in the fabric of the roof,  just like I was counting sheep. I was cold, I was hungry, and it was hard on my mother to hear her children cry."

Underground Good: Clayton Seabourn
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Opinion
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March 1, 2023

I love people. I even love the people that don't love me back—the haters, the folks that would rather we were all dead, to be honest. They're human beings, too, and I hold no malice against them. I think they're just misinformed and misdirected. People are afraid of what they don't understand."

Possibilities: Looking Beyond our Ideas of ‘Good’
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Opinion
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February 15, 2023

We're committed to shining a light on GOOD in Shasta County. But how will we define what's good? Brisolara responds to a reader question with the framework by which she'll be evaluating diverse community actions as she interviews those doing Underground Good.

Opinion: Shining A Light On Shasta County’s “Underground Good”
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Opinion
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January 22, 2023

Local program evaluator, educator, writer, and resilience & equity coach Sharon Brisolara introduces a new monthly column focused on providing a window into the mindsets and worldviews of the unseen, ordinary people who are doing good in Shasta County.

Opinion: Who Was Responsible For Uvalde? All Of Us.
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Other Community Voices
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June 12, 2022

Societal issues emerge through a confluence of societal factors shaped by individuals. We exist in communities, we share society, and together, we make America what it is. That’s why effective solutions to the social problem of mass shootings must address the interconnected societal factors that lead to gun violence.

bright green baby lettuce growing in black soil
Opinion: Don’t Blame the Lettuce
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Other Community Voices
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March 12, 2022

Put simply, finding fault is easy.  Doing the work you’ve criticized, isn’t.

man's face against blue background mostly obscured by post it notes with words including "normal" "society" and "expectations"
Opinion: Gender, And the Words We Use, Matter
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Other Community Voices
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January 4, 2022

After losing someone she loves to suicide this fall, Sharon Brisolara reminds the community of the dangers of stigma and the power of acceptance. The words we use, including our choice to use appropriate pronouns, are powerful. Brisolara explains why.

white rose on cement memorial with names carved into it
Opinion: Public Remembrances
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Other Community Voices
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September 12, 2021

In this era of information silos and distrust of sources that seem to offer political views different from our own, the purpose of remembrance can also be to assert that events actually happened and that they were significant.

Opinion: Being Seen: Exploring Life’s Great Questions Through Poetry
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Other Community Voices
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July 2, 2021

On August 6, local Indigenous youth will share their original works as part of the film, Being Seen: Native Youth on Identity, Culture, and Justice. The project was funded through a California Humanities Youth Voices grant.

Opinion: In the End It Is the Questions that Will Save Us
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Other Community Voices
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May 30, 2021

Powerful questions have been behind social innovations of all types: from Impossible Burgers to marriage equality. Below all such inquiry lies our grappling with the kind of society we want to have. Engaging in this process is fundamental to a functioning democracy.

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