Dr. Sharon Lanier serves as the Executive Director for the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation, where she collaborates with senior leadership and the foundation board to develop long-range organizational direction. Through strategic partnerships, she unites institutional values with community investments that help address oral health disparities and increase human well-being. She has almost two decades of experience in the public sector, focusing on philanthropic engagement, communications, policy development, program evaluation, and cross-sector collaboration.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, a Master’s degree in Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Leadership Studies. Her award-winning Ph.D. research focuses on how community leaders use collaborative effort to create public value that leads to social change.
Sharon is a member of the Arkansas Oral Health Coalition and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is a graduate of Philanthropy Southeast Hull Fellowship and Leadership Greater Little Rock. Sharon also currently serves as a Board Member for Just Communities of Arkansas, and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.