Barbara Sheppard

Barbara Sheppard serves as the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) for the Suda Institute. Her background as a visionary public health leader provided expertise in grantsmanship, strategic planning, program development, project management, community assessment, and administration. Ms. Sheppard excels in building and maintaining strong collaborative partnerships to drive evidence-based and innovative community action. During her 32-year tenure as a public health and social services professional, her greatest source of pride was being able to make an impact on her community while informing best practice processes on a local and national levels. During her professional career she directly wrote and developed a grant collaborative that secured over $30 million dollars for local communities. She has been recognized at both the county and state level for work that focused on children and adolescents. Many families have benefitted from her compassion and expertise. Ms Sheppard possesses vast experience in overseeing foundation, state, and federally funded prevention programs and has managed multi-million annual grant funding. Ms. Sheppard’s educational background includes an advanced degree in social work as well as postgraduate work in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Longwood University she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science and social work. Her board involvement history includes serving in a variety of initiatives including HIV/AIDS, Domestic Violence, Community Philanthropy, and Substance Use. Additionally, she served as the Board Chair on the Cabarrus HIV/AIDS Task Force (4 Years) and Hope Haven (3 years) where she continues to serve as the immediate past board chair. Barbara has a passion for travel and raising her two daughters—one with two legs (Sara) and the other with four legs (Riley).