Rev. Sharon Risher
Speaker & Author, Sharon Risher Speaks; National Volunteer, Everytown for Gun Safety; Emanuel AME Church shooting survivor
2025
Rev. Sharon Risher, from Charleston, SC, is a sought after respected preacher, public communicator passionate about social justice. She was catapulted into the limelight, after her beloved Mother, 2 cousins and a childhood friend was killed in the Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston, SC, June 17th, 2015. With experience in leadership, chaplaincy, and authorship (For Such a Time as This: Hope and Forgiveness After the Charleston Massacre, 2019), Sharon energizes and enlightens every space she enters. She is known for linking faith to action, inspiring others to think big and act with purpose, as a National Spokesperson for MOMS Demand Action for Gun Safety/Everytown Survivor Network, past Chair of the Board for one of the largest grassroots organizations to abolish the death penalty, Death Penalty Action.
At the Summit
The effort to eradicate hate requires the active participation of every component of our society, to include governments, the private sector, communities of faith and indeed every aspect of civil society. There is no more urgent task in front of us. The organizers of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit are doing the United States and the world an enormous service by tackling hatred and extremism with a focus on honest dialogue and conversation, genuine learning and practical solutions. This will not happen overnight, but the Pittsburgh community’s leadership in this effort is genuinely inspiring and motivating.
