Sharon Brown

Community Relations, Wake County Public Libraries @Wake County

Raleigh, NC, US

Public Affairs Director for Wake County Government for 5 years. Communications Director for Wake Co. Human Services for 3 years. Community Outreach and Community Relations Director, 3 years. Currently, I provide library service and engage community partners and citizens in library programs that improve the quality of life for all Wake County residents. I focus on County Public Libraries and Veterans Services, fostering collaborations that positively affect-free learning, job-search, technology and reading opportunities-programs that improve veteran and military families\' well-being -libraries as resource centers, where community leaders meet to recruit, train and engage partners for economic, health, environmental and cultural success and benefit. Examples of successful partnerships include-co-founding and serving on the board of the nonprofit Wake Military & Veterans Resource Coalition, which boasts more than 80 member organizations, connecting and providing support to veteran and military families-serving as a communications lead for the 2010 Census\' Wake County Complete Count Committee, working with leaders of 12 municipalities and community advocates, achieving record response rates for the county, state and nation-helping lead the marketing and networking efforts for a Career Summit to train displaced professionals and first-time job seekers in new resources for landing jobs-served on the boards of both state and national organizations of government information officers, connecting people with the services they need.