Sharon Parente

Born in Japan and raised in Oyster Bay, Long Island, Sharon Parente’s adult (professional) life began when she graduated from UVA in May 1978 with a bachelor's degree in speech pathology and audiology. Unable to practice without a master's degree, she returned home with the intention of saving money for graduate school and worked for several years with a NY financial securities firm, Prescott, Ball and Turben. There, she learned the fine art of municipal bond trading which took her on a successful 25-year+ career in the financial services industry.

When her two sons were in high school, she retired to spend more time with their family and to make time for volunteering and nonprofit work. Since then, she has sat on the boards of the following organizations, both national and local, where she was actively involved with all types of fundraising activities.

She is very interested in music. Her leadership activities in this area have included, Songcatcher's Inc, New Rochelle, New York which is an after-school music program for economically disadvantaged children, New Rochelle Opera Company, and Westchester Chorale in Larchmont, New York (present). For pure, personal musical enjoyment, she is a choral member of the Rye Country Day Festival Choir, the Soundettes (acapella women's group) and her local church choir.

B.S., University of Virginia, 1978