I have served on Wesley's Staff Council Executive Board, an arm of Human Resources, since September 2015 when I began my role as Social Committee Co-Chair. In this role, I was responsible for cultivating and maintaining the morale of Wesley's staff members. I also worked with the Director of HR to organize the annual staff retreat. With my co-chair and a small committee, we planned monthly birthday celebrations, on and off-campus events, and were in charge of service events from 2015-2019 when the Service Chair position was created. In August 2021, I stepped down as Social Committee Co-Chair as I assumed the role of Staff Council Co-Chair (in training). Under this role, I am a liaison between and responsible for speaking to Wesley's Administrative team and Board of Governors on behalf of the staff. I will fully assume this role in January 2022.

As an effective communicator with a knack for balancing flexibility and structure, I was able to secure my current position thanks to my strong creativity and skillset. With the support of my former supervisor, who recognized my capabilities, I was able to hit the ground running and flourish in my role.When I started in this role, I felt like a fish out of water! But, instead of floundering, I took the initiative to learn from my team and colleagues. With their help and my own experience, I defined my job responsibilities and expectations, making sure everyone was on the same page. Building connections with my team was crucial, so I made sure to check in with them regularly and really get to know them. And, because I care about our residents, I made myself available to them, so they knew they could come to me with any questions or concerns. I was thrilled to join the Wesley community, and I brought a fresh, creative perspective to my role. Being part of a progressive institution, I was determined to make it a safe and inclusive environment for all students. With that in mind, I took a simple but impactful step of adding my pronouns to my signature, which started a chain reaction. Soon, more and more staff and faculty followed suit and even requested that students include their pronouns and gender identity on housing applications. I'm proud to have contributed to creating a more welcoming community for everyone. My colleagues have shared positive feedback on my work as the Director:“Monica Sharp is a Leader and Colleague companies dream about! She is an established Director of Strategic Planning and Project Management with an expert methodology for coordinating and cross-collaborative concepts...”My office became more student-facing and responsive to their needs and wants. As a result, residential retention rates remained high, with 95-97% of residents choosing to stay until completing their program or withdrawing from the seminary.

When I landed this job, I knew that my academic background would be important, but what really set me apart was my ability to connect with people and my experience working with students from all sorts of diverse backgrounds.I believe that advising is more than just helping students choose their courses or plan their careers. It's about building a relationship with them and getting to know them as people beyond their academic life. That's why I always made an effort to share personal anecdotes to connect with our students, and I also took the time to ask about their lives outside of school. This approach helped me understand their unique challenges and allowed me to better support them in achieving their goal of completing their degree.I'm proud to say that my efforts paid off, as I was able to maintain a student retention rate of 90%. Seeing my students succeed and reach their potential was the most rewarding part of this job.

As a Graduate Hall Coordinator for Community Engagement, I leveraged my unique role as the only professional staff member on the floor to form meaningful connections with my residents and respond promptly to their needs. Drawing on my prior experience with City Year and my graduate program, I introduced restorative justice methods to handle residential conduct cases effectively.My success in this role paved the way for my position at Wesley Seminary, where I continued to build upon my leadership skills. One of my notable achievements was consulting with a resident to create the ADA Committee for the Student Activities Board, which helped ensure that all students could participate in campus activities.I also pioneered and advised the Accessibility Committee of Roosevelt University's Student Activities Board, driving a 30% increase in student engagement and satisfaction. Finally, I provided guidance and support to floor residents, achieving a 90% satisfaction rate in the annual residential life survey. My commitment to fostering a positive living and learning environment helped to create a vibrant and inclusive community for all residents.

In my role, I put my top-notch organizational skills to work, ensuring that all event details were meticulously planned and executed. Collaborating with the University of Illinois-Chicago, I managed event logistics from start to finish, overseeing operations to make sure everything ran smoothly. Additionally, I created documents that accurately reflected the institution's current policies and curricula, which was essential for ensuring the success of each event. Being able to keep everything on track and make a meaningful contribution to the University's mission was incredibly rewarding.My leadership skills were put to the test as I directed 18 Faculty Advisors and oversaw the logistics team. Through my strong communication skills, I was able to ensure that everyone involved was well-informed and on the same page.One of my biggest achievements was implementing a more efficient design that reduced planning time by 30% and increased cost-effectiveness by 20%. Additionally, I developed comprehensive documents that accurately reflected the then-current policies and curricula, making information more accessible and reducing errors.Overall, my experience as a Coordinator allowed me to use my skills in organization, leadership, communication, and strategic planning to successfully direct large-scale events and achieve positive results.

-Served as the team’s literacy and community engagement specialist.-Organized student events that encouraged positive behavior and decision-making in an underperforming school.-Tutored over 20 academically struggling high-school students.-Managed the attendance data of 122 freshmen.-Interfaced with corporate donors to secure funding for the organization and school programs.

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Created and executed plans modeled around the values of The Girls Scouts of AmericaRestructured program as necessary to support several troops under management

Empowered children ages 6-14 through leadership lessons and activitiesDeveloped a daily reading curriculum in order to improve literacy rates