Beverly Sharp is a native of Charleston, West Virginia and a graduate of Stonewall Jackson High School. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Law Enforcement and Corrections from Marshall University, minoring in Psychology, Sociology and English Literature.
She has worked in the field of Law Enforcement and Corrections for over 35 years. The majority of her professional career was spent with the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons. She held several positions of increasing responsibility including Correctional Officer, Correctional Treatment Specialist, Correctional Program Manager, Employment Development Manager and Director of Human Resources and Training. Additionally, she held numerous collateral duty positions including EEO Counselor, Recruiter, Affirmative Action Chairperson, Firearms Instructor and Hostage Negotiator.
After retiring from the Bureau of Prisons, she accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Commerce as Manager of Recruiting and Training for 25 counties in Eastern Kentucky for the 2010 Census. After completion of the Census, she was hired as an independent contractor, serving as a Work Readiness Training Instructor with the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program. She is currently serving as Program Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Department at Ashland Community and Technical College.
Beverly has completed the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) curriculum in the following areas: Offender Employment Specialist, Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) Training and became an NIC OWDS Certified Instructor. After completing these courses, she was granted her Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) Certification by the Center for Credentialing and Education. She has also completed her certification as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) trainer in the DEA 360 program, providing Drug Education seminars for the community and schools.
Currently, she is the Director of Reentry Initiatives for the West Virginia Council of Churches, developing programs, initiatives and training to improve the opportunities for former offenders to successfully return to the community as productive citizens, as well as to educate communities on the barriers faced by former offenders, in order to reduce recidivism and to Build Bridges to a Better Community.