President & CEO
Sharmain
Matlock-Turner is the President and CEO 
of the
Urban Affairs Coalition. She began her tenure at the Coalition
in March of 1999, with a special distinction: she is the first woman to lead UAC in the organization’s 40-year history. The Coalition unites government, business, neighborhoods, and individual initiative to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities, and solve emerging issues.
In partnership with a diverse Board of Directors made up of business, non-profit and community leaders, Ms. Matlock-Turner and her team of managers forge coalitions and build consensus to help families reduce poverty and reach the middle class.
Ms. Matlock-Turner chairs the boards of trustees of the West Oak Lane Charter School and the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation (OARC). She is currently a board member of La Salle University, the Philadelphia Facility Management Corporation which owns Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), and serves on the Economic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. She co-chairs the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia's Great Philadelphia Leadership Exchange program. She was selected by Mayor Michael Nutter to serve on the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Construction Industry Diversity and chaired its Workplace Committee. She was chosen by the Philadelphia Tribune as one of their "Most Influential African Americans of 2009."
This year, she was the recipient of the Take the Lead Award from Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. Over the past few years, Ms. Matlock-Turner has received the Citizen Volunteer of the Year Award from the United Way of Southern Pennsylvania, the Imprint Award from the People’s Emergency Center, the Civic Investment Award from Community College of Philadelphia, the Honorary Myrna Field Award from CASA Philadelphia, and the Women in the NAACP, 100 Influential Black Women In Philadelphia Award. She has been honored by the American Women’s Heritage Society, Pennsylvania Senate, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, City of Philadelphia, OARC, Black United Fund, WOMENS WAY, Philadelphia Business Journal, Philadelphia Tribune, the March of Dimes, Consumer Credit Counseling Services and received City Councilwoman Reynolds-Brown’s “Making a Difference” award. She received the first Helena T. Devereux Leadership Award, presented by The Devereux Foundation.
Ms. Matlock-Turner is a founder of the Arise Academy Charter High School, the first public charter high school for youth in foster care in the country. She is a co-host of the live weekly radio show, Financial Voices on WURD 900 AM, and she is a regular guest on 6abc's Inside Story.
Ms. Matlock-Turner holds a BS degree in Education from Temple University. In 2005, she was one of three Philadelphia nonprofit leaders selected to receive a scholarship to the Harvard Business School’s nonprofit leaders' summer program. She is a Philadelphia resident and is married to Tony Turner with two grown daughters, Ayanna Matlock and Naima Turner.
Prior to being named President of the Urban Affairs Coalition, Ms. Matlock-Turner was associate vice president, legislative and community affairs for Mercy Health System. Before that, Ms. Matlock-Turner was chief of staff to the late State Senator Roxanne H. Jones.
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Media contact and photo of Sharmain Matlock-Turner available by contacting:
Mary-Anne Smith at msmith@uac.org; 215-851-1794
Sharmain Matlock-Turner can be reached at smturner@uac.org; 215-851-1701
1207 Chestnut Street, 7th Floor