Ted Bradshaw Memorial Alumnus Award
The Ted. K. Bradshaw Memorial Alumnus Award, to be granted each year by the Community Development Graduate Group of the University of California, Davis honors an alumnus who exemplifies the passion, humanity, and devotion for community empowerment with which Ted endowed his life as well as his academic and professional career. This award recognizes an early or mid-career alumnus who has demonstrated both academic excellence as well as the creative and skillful pursuit of social justice in California and beyond. For Ted, serving as a mentor to his students was central to his sense of professional and personal mission and it gave him great pleasure to be able to pass the torch to the following generations of community development scholars and practitioners. It is to honor Ted and to echo the encouragement he provided for countless students and colleagues, that the Community Development Graduate Group has established this award.
The inaugural Ted. K. Bradshaw Memorial Alumnus Award is made to Sharon Huntsman.
Sharon Huntsman
Executive Director, California EDGE Campaign
Sharon is a skilled project director and facilitator specializing in complex policy change initiatives. As the Executive Director of the California EDGE Campaign, Sharon has helped to elevate workforce skills as a critical issue facing California. Prior to EDGE, Sharon was a senior project manager at Valley Vision where she facilitated a network of ten organizations working to improve health care systems serving Hmong communities from Fresno to Sacramento.
Sharon has 15 years of experience serving communities, nonprofits and local governments as a facilitator, mediator and project manager for the Center for Collaborative Policy, the Environmental Careers Organization, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and as a private consultant. Her accomplishments include managing the Silicon Valley 2010 visioning project, launching the Sustainable Communities Leadership Program, and facilitating numerous community change efforts through community forums, strategic planning workshops, and capacity building initiatives. Sharon is also an experienced trainer in collaborative problem solving, having taught classes through UC Davis Extension and community organizations.
Huntsman received a M.S. in Community Development from UC Davis. Her research centered on evaluating the impact of training civic leaders in collaboration skills. In 2003, Sharon received the Sacramento League of Women Voters Anne Rudin Scholarship for her commitment to informed participation in public policy. She received her undergraduate degree from University of California at Santa Cruz with highest honors in Politics.