Welcome, Shara!

Shara Drew has joined New Dream as the new director of our Kids & Commercialism program. Shara’s deep experience and successful track record working on related initiatives, as well as her strong communication skills and experience, make her a fantastic addition to the team.

Shara is committed to ensuring that kids have abundant time and space to connect, play, learn, and grow free from the pressures of consumerism. Prior to her role at New Dream, she worked at Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, where she helped implement initiatives to stop child-targeted marketing and oversaw programs including National Screen-Free Week.

Shara holds a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she studied mass media and their effects. It was during this time that she became passionate about standing up for children and our planet in an advertising-saturated word.

Shara lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and two young sons. She enjoys spending time in nature, photographing children at play, and improvising original (and often silly) songs and stories on topics suggested by her boys. At New Dream, Shara is excited to develop resources and tools for parents and other caring adults to help kids thrive in an increasingly commercialized culture. If you have an idea for a resource you’d like to see, please email Shara at shara(at)newdream.org.