Sharon Nicholson Harrell, DSS, MPH, FAGD has been providing dental care to underserved children at FirstHealth Dental Clinics for over twenty years. 

Harrell was announced as the first chief diversity officer in Jan. 2021 and since has established FirstHealth’s Inclusion Council that is composed of twenty-three professionals with a variety of diverse backgrounds. The Council is used to help mold the health care system’s efforts in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Harrell explained that she is looking forward to making FirstHealth the best place to work in health care. 

“While there are many strategies to achieve that goal, ensuring that employees feel represented, accepted, valued, and empowered is a key component.” 

However, the end goal of an inclusive environment extends beyond employees. 

“FirstHealth is working to create a culture of excellence in which all patients, families, visitors, vendors, and volunteers feel connected, treated fairly and safe, and where differences are both celebrated and supported,” Harrell said. 

Harrell first joined FirstHealth in 1998 as the inaugural director of dental care, and, since then, the system has been able to provide dental care to more than 29,000 underserved patients up to twenty-one years of age. 

Harrell obtained her dental degree from the University of North Carolina in 1987 and completed her Advanced General Dentistry Residency at the University of Maryland Dental School in 1988. In 1990, she returned to the University of North Carolina and got her master’s in public health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health. 

Currently Harrell is in the process of attaining the credential of Certified Diversity Executive.