Sharon Z. Roerty

Sharon Roerty, a senior program officer who joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2011, is an urban alchemist who has spent a lot of time at the intersection of health and transportation. She brings her extensive expertise in built environments, transportation, and environmental and urban policy to the Foundation’s efforts to help create healthy communities through community and economic development and preservation that values people and promotes equity. Through her work, she partners with other leaders—in the United States and abroad—in seeking collaborative and just solutions to repairing cities and reconnecting communities. Sharon believes deeply in Van Gogh’s saying: "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

Previously, Sharon was the CEO of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking. She also served as capital program manager at the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, and as senior project manager at the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University. Her early career was spent at environmental management firms, where she led and contributed to regional growth and environmental impact studies for land development projects in the New York Metropolitan Region.

Sharon served on the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Task Force; the SRTS National Review Group; and the USDOT Pedestrian Safety Program Strategic Plan. A long-time member of the N.J. Council of Physical Fitness & Sports, she also served on the Pedestrian Injury Prevention Program in Newark, N.J.; the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center International Advisory Group; the America Bikes Board of Directors; the Complete Streets Coalition Steering Committee; and a number of local planning and education committees. She is currently serving on the Regional Plan Association’s committee to create a long-range strategic plan for the New York metropolitan region.  

Sharon earned a BS in environmental science from Stockton State College and a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning (MCRP) from Rutgers University; and was a Lead NJ Fellow (2004). A member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, she is a New Jersey Licensed Professional Planner.

A native New Jerseyan, she loves to see the world on foot and on bicycle where everything and everyone comes to life.