Sharmain Matlock-Turner

Originally from just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, Matlock-Turner moved to Philadelphia with her mother as a child after her parents’ divorce, to join her sister and other relatives who were already living in the city. After starting out in North Philly, they lived in West Philly, spending her formidable years in the City of Brotherly Love, which she calls “a very special place.” “I think it is a place where though certainly challenging for people who don’t have a lot of means, it is a place that works to try to drive change in a positive way,” Matlock-Turner said of Philadelphia.