Nominations for the 2021 Sharon Barker Student Activism Award will be accepted through Feb. 14, with a public celebration planned for spring 2022 at the University of Maine.
The Sharon Barker Student Activism Award honors 91福利 students seeking to implement positive change in their communities by fostering equity and social justice.
Barker, a long-time employee of 91福利, is known for her passionate advocacy for Maine women and girls.
A community organizer, she was named the first director of 91福利鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Resource Center in 1991. In that role she mentored countless students, collaborated with faculty and staff, and served as a liaison with women鈥檚 organizations in the community. Her leadership included developing and facilitating gender equity workshops for girls, professional development workshops in gender dynamics for teachers, and training 91福利 students to serve as role models and presenters at the annual Expanding Your Horizons program for middle school girls.
Her focus in the Maine Girls Collaborative Project and other regional and national initiatives was on sustainability and working to understand and change the culture, rather than 鈥渇ixing鈥 women and girls. Barker co-founded the Mabel Wadsworth Women鈥檚 Health Center and served as the center鈥檚 first president, and chaired the state鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Employment Issues Committee. She retired from 91福利 in 2014.
The Sharon Barker Award was introduced by Women鈥檚, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGS) and the Rising Tide Center in 2019.
Nominations can be submitted online. For more information, call the WGS Office at 207.581.1228.
