Sharia M. Benn enthusiastically embraces the concept of servant-leadership, which
is a huge part of her professional and personal success.
She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and graduate of Towson State University with a
B. A. in Mass Communications and holds one of the insurance industry’s most prestigious
designations, the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU). This distinguished
academic honor is achieved by less than five percent of professionals in the insurance
industry. Additionally Sharia is a graduate of The Dale Carnegie Course for Business
Leaders; the American Baptist’s Church Leadership Institute with a Certificate of Christian
Studies; Leadership Harrisburg Area; and Dr. Tony Evans’ The Urban Alternative Church
Leadership Development Program with a certificate in Christian Counseling.
Sharia started working in insurance to pay for college, but it grew into a career. Over
a span of twenty-five years and dedicated efforts, perseverance, and overcoming
challenging circumstances, Sharia advanced from an entry level customer service position
to her current position as the Director of Underwriting Initiatives at Penn National
Insurance.
Sharia demonstrates this same drive as an actor and performer by using her singing,
acting, and scripting gifts to delight and enlighten audiences. She discovered her love of
acting at age seven when she became a regular performer for the Pumpkin Children’s
Theatre in Baltimore. In the Harrisburg area, she has appeared in major roles in Pretty Fire
at Rose Lehrman Arts Center, in Open Stage of Harrisburg productions: Crowns (Jeanette),
Doubt (Mrs. Muller), The Piano Lesson (Bernice), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Ma Rainey),
Stories from Home (Ensemble), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Bertha), A Christmas Memory
(Anna), Fences (Rose), Court Street Cabarets, A Raisin in the Sun(Lena/Momma), and Peter,
Hook, and the Darlings (Tinker Bell); Gamut Theatre’s Red Velvet (Connie) and To Kill A
Mockingbird (Calpurnia); and in the Fordham Productions films “Easy Hustle” and “Reunion
The Movie”. In 2012 Sharia won the BroadwayWorld.com’s Central PA’s Best Actress
Award for her performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and was nominated again for the
Best Actress award in 2014 for her portrayal of Rose in Fences.
Sharia holds a special passion for increasing the knowledge and understanding of the
African American experience as she combines acting and historical studies to engage
contemporary audiences as she portrays historically significant African-American women
like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (famed abolitionist, literary figure, and champion for
women’s rights).
In the community Sharia is an active supporter of many arts and charitable
organizations that support building better families and communities. She currently serves
on the Board of Directors for Open Stage of Harrisburg and the Cultural Enrichment Fund.
She served as a founding board member for Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area, a non-profit
organization with the mission to end and prevent homelessness among women and
children. She is a volunteer with the YWCA’s Women Leadership Network and is an active
committee member for Caitlin’s Smiles. Sharia serves in community soup kitchens such as
Downtown Daily Bread and The Bethesda Mission. She has served as a Big Sister in the Big
Brothers Big Sisters Program, a parent volunteer with the YMCA’s Black Achievers Parent
Advisory Council, and as a parent supporter of the PA Family Health Councils’ “On Second
Thought” peer education program.
Sharia’s leadership in ministry began as a Youth Coordinator at the Zion Baptist
Church, in 1991, under the leadership of Pastor Marshall F. Prentice. God continued to
enlarge her ministry borders and in 2002 she was commissioned as a Youth Pastor/Pastor
of Family Life at the Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Harrisburg, PA. She has been
blessed to be part of the implementation of many groundbreaking and fruitful children,
youth, and family life ministry programs that have positively impacted hundreds of young
people and their families. She also served as the Director for the Cultural and Performing
Arts Ministry at The Greater Zion Missionary Church for more than nine years. In this
capacity she wrote, produced, and directed over seven theatrical productions which moved
audiences to laughter, tears, and shouts of praise!!
Sharia has been the recipient of Open Stage of Harrisburg’s “Women Who Care“
award, “Mother of the Year” by the Baltimore Progressive Baptist Convention, the “Tribute
to Woman of Excellence” by the Harrisburg YWCA of Harrisburg, the Earth Angel Award
from Rejoice, Inc., and the Adult Black Achiever Award by the Camp Curtain YMCA of
Harrisburg, PA.
Of all of her activities and accomplishments, Sharia’s crowning achievement is being a
wife, mother, and grandmother. She has been married for over 25 years to her best-friend
and number one supporter, William J. Benn. She and William have been blessed with two
children, Kelsey and Jaylyn, and grandson, Levi.