LaShae Sharp-Collins

Lincoln High School and San Diego State University figure in LaShae Sharp-Collins’s education, and San Diego State also figures in her work as an adjunct professor. Born and raised in the city, she studied Africana studies and went on to teach it. She also created curriculum and reached out to parents while working for the San Diego County Office of Education. She worked as district Director for Shirley Weber. Her 2024 Assembly run drew support from the California Democratic Party, Toni Atkins and Weber. Her career has included education, community engagement and work as a district Director.

ROOTS

Sharp-Collins was born and raised in San Diego and graduated from Lincoln High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Africana studies, a master’s degree in education and a Doctor of Education from San Diego State University.

After graduating from Lincoln High School and San Diego State, Sharp-Collins went on to work at San Diego State as an adjunct professor in the Department of Africana studies. Her degrees and university teaching linked Africana studies and education, two areas documented in her education and career.

Her education and career included Lincoln High, San Diego State and the San Diego County Office of Education.

THE JOB BEFORE THE JOB

At San Diego State, Sharp-Collins taught as an adjunct professor and belonged to the California Faculty Association. In 2022, students in one of her courses expressed discomfort on social media about an assignment asking them to create a “slave narrative” and act like an enslaved persona.

Sharp-Collins also worked as a Community Engagement Specialist for the San Diego County Office of Education. Her work included creating curriculum and reaching out to parents.

Sharp-Collins also served as district Director for Shirley Weber. Taken together, her positions included teaching in a university department, creating curriculum and contacting parents at the county education office, and working as a district Director.

THE PATH TO OFFICE

Sharp-Collins ran for the California State Assembly in 2024 to succeed incumbent Akilah Weber, who ran for the California State Senate. Her general-election opponent was La Mesa City Councilman Colin Parent.

Sharp-Collins received the backing of the California Democratic Party, Toni Atkins and Shirley Weber. She also worked as Weber’s district Director.

Sharp-Collins’s career included experience in classrooms, at a county education office and as Weber’s district Director. Parent was a member of the La Mesa City Council. Those were the professional backgrounds represented by the two candidates in the general election.

THE POLICY SIGNATURE

Sharp-Collins’s clearest sustained area of work is education. She studied Africana studies, earned graduate degrees in education, taught Africana studies, belonged to a faculty association, created curriculum and conducted parent outreach. On the documented record, that amounts to a professional concentration, though it is not the same thing as a documented legislative program.

No Assembly bills, committee assignments, appointments or votes are identified here. On that basis, it would be premature to attach a legislative signature to Sharp-Collins or claim that she has used Assembly power for a particular policy constituency.

What can be said is narrower. Her record includes work involving students and parents, along with membership in a faculty association. Her career also included work as Shirley Weber’s district Director, and her Assembly campaign was supported by Weber, Atkins and the state Democratic Party. Until a legislative record supplies more, education and community engagement remain the most concrete areas of Sharp-Collins’s documented work.