Sharon m. blacknall

Sharon M. Blacknall is the Founder of Military Veterans Against Child Abuse, Author, Business Management Advisor, VP of Administration for the ABA (American Basketball Association), Certified Life Coach, Division Chair for the ABA South Region Blue Division, Managing Partner/GM of the Alamo City All-Stars ABA Professional Basketball team.

She is a proud USAF Veteran with over 30 years of experience hiring, managing, and training employees, mentoring entrepreneurs, and handling multi-million dollar budgets from initial bidding to the award and procurement phase. Sharon was one of the first Black women, to serve as a USAF Electronic Computer Maintenance and Switching Specialist responsible for repairing and maintaining the computer mainframes, teletypes, and electronic components that controlled networks. Once she left the Air Force, she worked as an Electronic Field Engineer in Southern California and Nevada. It was through one of her many customers, that she was offered a management position that led to her many years in casino management. She also has previous experience as a Certified Residential and FHA Appraiser and owned a successful appraisal company that was one of the top three appraisal companies used by a national home builder in Southern Nevada for many years.

Sharon was part of the management teams responsible for opening two multi-billion dollar casino properties in Las Vegas, NV (Treasure Island and Bellagio) and one multi-billion dollar casino in Biloxi, MS (Beau Rivage). Her duties included everything from interviewing hundreds of applicants, designing warehouse and office space, hiring staff, developing training and operations manuals, bidding and awarding multiple multi-million dollar corporate contracts for services and materials, and ensured the company’s records management program’s compliance with state, gaming, and federal laws and regulations.

While working for Mirage Resorts and MGM Mirage, she also volunteered and worked for different child safety, inner-city youth sports programs, and missing child prevention companies.

Sharon has written two preschool safety books, which were awarded the Family Review Center’s Best of 2014 Award. The books are currently in use in many child development centers and Head Start classrooms. She also developed two innovative safety and anti-bullying programs for three to ten-year-olds and a new child abuse prevention education program for adults, Safe and Unafraid – Child Abuse Prevention Training and Certification, which is distributed through her nonprofit Military Veterans Against Child Abuse. Her latest book, Growing Up Safe and Unafraid - Child Safety Tips for Parents and Grandparents, is available on Amazon. She also developed a Good Sportsmanship and Integrity Certified Youth Program called Creating AllStars.