For most of her career, Sharma has worked for nonprofit organizations and to conserve agriculture and/or natural resources, which are her passions. Having just joined the White Tank Mountains Conservancy (WTMC) as the Executive Director, Sharma seeks to help WTMC further its mission to inspire all to enjoy and conserve the White Tank Mountains, balancing population growth and the need for responsible development and conservation of regional wildlife corridors.
A native Arizonan, born and raised in Phoenix, where she still resides, Sharma received a B.S. in Biology from Arizona State University. She worked as a Wildlife Biologist for various nonprofit organizations and other entities, leading her to attend law school focusing on environmental law. She interned at three nonprofit conservation organizations and received her J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Sharma practiced law as a civil litigator in AZ, CA, and DC, but unfortunately, not in environmental law.
With a desire to return to her passions, Sharma gave up practicing law and returned to conservation. She worked for Arizona Land and Water Trust and the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) when she opened her own company, Ag-Conserve Consulting, LLC, five years ago. As a consultant, she also works for the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts and Central Arizona Land Trust, two nonprofit organizations that conserve agriculture and natural resources.
She graduated from Project CENTRL (Center for Rural Leadership) and is a member of the International Leadership Alumni Conference Advisory Board, the Bureau of Land Management Arizona Resource Advisory Council, and AZDA’s Food and Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee.
