A lifelong hiker, runner, and lover of paths and trails, Sharon Taylor has a hard time being idle. Our new board member has walked every path in Berkeley in one day — a 33.4-mile route! — and has completed all 38 walks in the guidebook Secret Stairs of the East Bay.

She belongs to the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders running club, is a member of the Oakland Trails Park Patrol, and recently joined the Oakland Women’s Rowing Club at Lake Merritt after years on the waiting list.

Sharon previously worked as a computer systems administrator at UC-Berkeley, then stayed at home while her two children were young. After that, she went to graduate school in Library and Information Science and then worked as a children’s librarian at Black Pine Circle School in Berkeley and the Oakland Public Library.

Add to those professional credentials her family background: Her father was a UC-Berkeley professor of forestry, and her son Nicholas is earning a graduate degree in Environmental Policy and Management at UC-Davis while working summers as a National Park ranger. You can see why we are thrilled to have her on our team.

Sharon is looking forward to joining Jacob Lehmann Duke as co-chair of BPWA’s walks program. She got to know Jacob quite well during the twelve hours she spent with him and Aviva Gerwein as the only participant on their annual All-the-Paths in Berkeley walk this year.

An Oakland native, Sharon now lives in Upper Rockridge with her husband Cimarron, whom, she says, is “not a big walker but is very supportive.” Her daughter Stephanie is majoring in chemistry at UC Santa Barbara.

Sharon first learned about BPWA from Board President Colleen Neff when their sons were in high school together.

“I made a mental note that this was something I should get involved in when I had time,” she recalls. “It sounded like a perfect fit for me. “

We whole-heartedly agree.