[Massachusetts-NFB] Member to Member - Getting to Know Each Other

[Bronwen Tedesco]

Welcome to our next Member to Member! Today, we will get to know the state
affiliate president, Shara Winton.


Shara was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan growing up with her parents and five
siblings. She was the second youngest. Then when she was twelve, she moved
to Frogjump, Tennessee, a rural town. She knew something was different
about her when she was in seventh grade and could not see out of her left
eye. When she was thirteen, the doctor discovered a brain tumor blocking
the flow to her optic nerve. Even after she got it removed, she still had
trouble seeing. In the middle of eighth grade, she transferred to the
Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville and she was class president all
through high school. she graduated high school in 1987. Immediately
afterward, she attended Belmont college, a music school in Nashville then a
year later, she went on to attend Middleton State College in Murfreesboro,
where she majored in mass communications with an emphasis on public
relations minoring in business administration and multicultural studies.
While in college, she juggled motherhood, worked full-time, discovered the
NFB, and ran a transportation coalition. Because of her efforts and
advocacy, Murfreesboro got public transportation in 1995. Around this time,
she worked for People First of Tennessee as a public relations development
specialist, in charge of fundraising and planning meetings with the media,
working there for about seven years. After that, she was an event planner
at the Adventure Science Center for ten years. Then when she no longer
worked there, she ran a day care in her house and sold various types of
products, such as Mary K cosmetics. Now she sells for Pamper Chef, Doterra
Essential Oil, and Nerra Skin Care. In 2014, she moved to Salem,
Massachusetts then in 2021, she moved to Lynn where she remains today.


Shara discovered the NFB while in the beginning of her college career.
Someone told her about it, she got in touch with her state president, but
there was no local chapter. Eager to become involved, she started the
Murfreesboro Chapter, attending her first National convention in Anaheim,
California in 1996. When she moved to Massachusetts, she was a member of
the Cambridge Chapter, then became the Cambridge Chapter president, the
state first and second Vice President, tsecretary, then in 2021, the state
affiliate president. When asked if she had any advice for anyone who has
recently lost their vision or joined the NFB, she said, “Don’t give up.
Just because you lost your sight, it is not the end. Your life has just
begun. While you lost your sight, you gained vision.”


Shara currently lives in Lynn and is the diversity equity and inclusion
chair of the of the Lynn Democrats, a member of the Shoe Lions Club, and
enjoys cooking, reading, and hanging out with friends. It has been great
getting to know you, Shara! Stay tuned for our next Member to Member!


Sincerely,

Bronwen
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