Love leads the way

Yet ask Sharon about her greatest achievement and she won't mention policy, leadership or awards.

She'll talk about five-year-olds.

Where it all began

Sharon never set out with a grand career plan. Instead, education found her.

"I don't think I ever decided to be an educator," she says. "The opportunities just kept coming, and every step felt right."

Starting in early childhood education before moving into Aboriginal Education Assistant roles in Coraki and Walgett, Sharon quickly discovered she had found her calling.

"It was about nurturing children. Teaching comes after that."

That belief has remained the foundation of everything she's done since. Whether supporting students, mentoring teachers or shaping statewide education strategy, Sharon believes meaningful learning starts with relationships built on trust, respect and care.

A seed planted at ACU

There was just one problem when people first encouraged Sharon to study teaching at university.

She didn't think it was for people like her. Raised by parents who had left school early to work and support their families, university wasn't something anyone in her family had experienced.

"It wasn't even part of our world."

It was fellow Aboriginal educators who planted the seed, encouraging her to enrol at ACU's Yalbalinga program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

At the time she was raising two young children while her husband worked shifts as a police officer. She almost talked herself out of it. Instead, with encouragement from her family, colleagues and ACU staff, she took the leap. It changed her life.

"My whole educational journey has been with ACU," she says.

"I always felt safe. I always felt supported. People believed I could do it, so I believed I could do it too."

One qualification became another. An associate diploma became a Bachelor of Teaching, then a graduate diploma, a master's degree, postgraduate research and now a PhD exploring resilience and wellbeing for Aboriginal children.

"The thirst for learning has never left me."

Leading with love

Today, as Senior Manager, Aboriginal Education, Catholic Schools NSW, Sharon helps shape Aboriginal education across one of Australia's largest education systems.

She advises governments, works alongside education leaders, supports schools across the state and represents Catholic education on national committees.

No two weeks look alike. One week she's helping organise NAIDOC Week celebrations. The next she's visiting schools, leading conferences or contributing to national curriculum discussions.

Despite the scale of her work, Sharon's leadership philosophy is remarkably simple.

"Love and support."

She believes every decision should begin with empathy.

"You never know what someone has walked into work carrying that day."

When working with school leaders, Sharon encourages them to create environments where Aboriginal students don't simply enrol but genuinely belong.

"My message is always the same: don't invite our children into your schools if you're not prepared to love them and care for them."

It's a philosophy that has earned Sharon enormous respect across Catholic education. She is known not only as a strategic leader, but as someone who mentors, listens and quietly empowers those around her.

Keeping children at the centre

Ask Sharon what still brings her the greatest joy after decades in education, and the answer comes instantly.

"A classroom full of kindergarten children."

Watching young children discover the world reminds her why the work matters.

Today, she sees education through another lens, that of grandmother to three young grandchildren.

"They remind me every day why we do this."

For Sharon, the future of Aboriginal education starts long before secondary school. Her doctoral research explores how strengthening resilience in the earliest years of life can improve lifelong wellbeing and help address the heartbreaking rates of youth suicide experienced by many Aboriginal communities.

If her research can help even one generation of children grow up believing they belong, she says, it will all have been worthwhile.

"Success for me would be seeing those numbers fall."

A legacy still unfolding

Receiving ACU's Indigenous Alumni Award has given Sharon something she rarely gives herself. A moment to pause. To reflect. And to recognise just how many lives she has helped shape.

Her influence can be seen in the teachers she has mentored, the policies she has helped develop, the communities she has strengthened and the countless young people who have walked into classrooms knowing they belong.

Yet she remains focused on what comes next. There is still more to learn. More children to support. More educators to inspire. More futures to shape.

Because for Sharon Cooke, education has never been about titles or recognition. It has always been about people.

And making sure every child knows they are valued, capable and loved.

Sharon is the winner of the ACU Indigenous Award in ACU’s Alumni Awards 2026.