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

[sharawinton at gmail.com]

Thank you Bronwen. You are doing such a great job. It was really fun speaking with you. I love getting to know all of our members in this way. 

By the way… Happy Birthday!!! 

Everyone, please join me in wishing our Bronwen a fantastic birthday!!! 

 

 

 

Love, Shara

 

Shara Winton

President, National federation of the Blind of Massachusetts

 <http://www.nfbma.org/> www.nfbma.org

 <mailto:sharawinton at gmail.com> sharawinton at gmail.com

617-304-0347

 

From: Massachusetts-NFB <massachusetts-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Bronwen Tedesco via Massachusetts-NFB
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2026 8:01 AM
To: massachusetts-nfb at nfbnet.org
Cc: Bronwen Tedesco <bronwen.tedesco at gmail.com>
Subject: [Massachusetts-NFB] Member to Member - Getting to Know Each Other

 

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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