Dr. Sharon S. Nazarian is the President of the Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation, with a regional office in Israel named the Ima Foundation. The focus on education and public policy is core to Sharon's philanthropic perspective. She is the founder of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and Chair of its Advisory Board. The Center is housed in the International Institute at UCLA in order to provide a systematic and academic study of Israel. She also teaches as an adjunct professor at the UCLA in the Department of Political Science.

In 2017, The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) appointed Sharon as Senior Vice President of International Affairs. Sharon heads ADL’s work fighting anti-Semitism and racial hatred globally and also oversees ADL’s Israel office.

Sharon's interests are reflected in the myriad of organizations she devotes her time, talent and energies to - she is the vice chair of the West Coast Board of the American Society of the University of Haifa, sits on the Board of Governors of Haifa University, and is a member of the Chairman's Circle of the National Democratic Institute. She also sits on the boards of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, HIAS-Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Center of Middle East Public Policy at RAND Corporation, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. Additionally, Sharon is a member of the Board of Trustees for Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences.

Her undergraduate studies took place at the University of Southern California (USC), double majoring in Journalism and International Relations. She went on to receive her Master's and Doctorate of Philosophy degrees also from USC in the field of Political Science, specializing in Political Economy and Economic Development in newly industrialized countries. Currently, she resides in Los Angeles with her three children.