by Jesyca Hope //page

AN INTERNATIONAL ACTIVIST

SHARON SULLIVAN

by Jesyca Hope | photo by EJ Drake

Dr. Sharon L. Sullivan has degrees from Smith College, Washington University and the University of Kansas. She is a professor at Washburn University teaching Theatre and Women’s and Gender Studies. Her research and activism focus on violence against women and children, including sexual and domestic violence, human trafficking, and rape as a weapon of war. Sharon is cofounder and director of STARS (Stop Trafficking and Reject Slavery), a member of the Kansas Human Trafficking Advisory Board, president of the International Public Policy Institute (an NGO to the United Nations), and president-elect of the new Rotary Chapter of Community Action Against Human Trafficking (CAAHT). She is also an active supporter of the Topeka YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment. Sharon has presented multiple times about Human Trafficking at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She currently cochairs the Topeka Shawnee County Human Trafficking Coalition.

Sharon lives on ten acres of land with her partner, 32 chickens, eight ducks, two turkeys and a very patient Boxer named Happy.

Looking back, what do you wish you could have skipped?

The years of crippling insecurity and selfdoubt. It took me a long time for my insides to match my outside...or at least get closer. Others perceived me as successful long before I felt it myself. I wish I had understood that life is not linear. There are going to be detours, speed bumps and potholes. As a former perfectionist, I thought those were my failings instead of understanding them as part of life.

What should one never take for 'granite'?

The important people in your life. There will always be work to do, but people are finite. When you care about someone, it’s worth taking time to love and support.We need connection with others.

What do you think people should be boulder at?

Embracing risk and mistakes. Don’t settle for anything less than your dreams. Take a chance, work hard. Be willing to fail and try again. We learn more from failure than from an immediate success. Every time we get try again using what we learned from our experience, we increase our inner strength and resiliency. It is better to have tried and failed, than to look back on your life and know that you never tried.

Embrace your best self. Be weird, be quirky, be happy! Be your authentic self.

Love. Don’t be afraid to put love into the world. See the beauty in the people around you and tell them. “Breathe in Peace, Breathe out Love.”

How do you find gems in the rough of your field?

I am so grateful to work with young people. They bring so much energy and excitement to the world. They are all gems in the rough. It is a privilege to love and guide them as they sand off the rough edges and shape the facets of

their lives. aseveneightfive