Neil Sharma

Bio

Neil Sharma is from Greensboro, NC, and is a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying higher-ed access and gAI policies.

As a non-traditional student who worked in the restaurant industry for seven years before returning to education, Neil is grateful to the affordability of the community college pathway that gave him opportunities to study policy research and advance in life despite being older. Noting the self-belief gained since, Neil’s career passion focuses on researching how to revitalize 2-year college pathways and advocate for policies that lead to higher-ed accessibility. Through these goals, Neil hopes to support continuing education mechanisms for students like himself, so others can also benefit from platforms that provide academic and professional mobility, regardless of age or background.

Having recently earned his B.A. in Public Policy, Neil completed his senior capstone project with the NC Community College Foundation, running surveys and focus groups to help guide their national partnerships and fundraising procedures. Neil is also currently serving as the graduate director of academic affairs to promote learning accessibility within his college, and run events aimed at professional development, post-graduate success, and academic policy visibility for Tarheels.

Believing in the great power of mixed methods to bring effective policy change, Neil is also grateful for opportunities that have allowed him to hone his quantitative and qualitative skill sets. These include interning at the Department of Public instruction analyzing K-12 policy, researching Japanese labor laws in Tokyo as a Gilman scholar, and studying UNC-System standardized testing policies as a UNC-ASG fellow.

Neil hopes to continue to develop these skills as he attempts to give back to his community college roots this year at the Belk Center.