Shara O’Neal Thompson is the first hired woman firefighter/paramedic for the Addison, TX, Fire Department and the first woman cadet to graduate from Collin College Fire and EMS Academy. A licensed paramedic and graduate of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, she holds a degree in interdisciplinary studies (psychology and sociology) and is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Leading Racial Equity and Inclusion in Organizations programs as well as of Cornell University’s Diversity and Inclusion program and Wesleyan University's Social Psychology program.