Sharon Tafolla is a recent graduate from the University of San Francisco and completed her Master’s in Public Health with an emphasis in policy and leadership.  Her interests include studying mental health and reproductive health care access among underserved populations, primarily Chicanx/Latinx, African American, and rural communities.

She is also currently the legislative coordinator for the Center for Healthy Communities at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Prior to joining CDPH, Sharon worked as a medical scribe at the Madera Community Hospital in the Central Valley. She also interned as a Government Affairs and Media Relations intern with the National Association of County and City Health Officials headquarters in Washington, DC. In this role, she assisted in hosting the first congressional briefing by the Big Cities Health Coalition on e-cigarettes and facilitated the data collection of strategic priorities for addressing opioids. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Biology at UC Davis and plans to attend UC Merced in the Fall of 2021 to obtain her PhD in Public Health.