PROFILE

Sharona Shuster, M.A., is the associate director of development and impact for Convergence. In this role, she oversees organizational learning and impact evaluation across Convergence’s projects and works to share our learning with organizations interested in applying collaborative problem-solving approaches in their work. She also works with the fundraising team to strengthen the organization’s growth through philanthropy and fund development. She brings to this work over a decade of professional experience in various areas of social transformation, including in education, gender equality, and global public health. Before her current role, Sharona was the deputy director of Convergence’s Education Reimagined initiative, where she worked extensively to strengthen fundraising, outreach, and evaluation for that effort. Prior to joining Convergence, Sharona worked as an independent consultant for a variety of organizations, including Ashoka, the world’s leading association of social entrepreneurs, where she led grant-writing and research initiatives to develop and strengthen global innovative maternal and infant health programs. Sharona also spent several years as the representative for the advancement of women for the Baha’is of the United States, where she worked in collaboration with dozens of NGOs to strengthen U.S. policy and legislation pertaining to women and children’s global human rights. Sharona has a Master’s degree in Education, with a concentration in Human Development and Psychology, Risk and Prevention, from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Psychology and Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children and enjoys gardening and singing in her free time.