Shari Youngblood
Research Analyst

Shari Youngblood is a research analyst for The Hilltop Institute. She is responsible for policy and analytical support for Hilltop’s work on long-term care system transformation, as well as the management of surveys and other qualitative research initiatives.

Before joining The Hilltop Institute, Ms. Youngblood taught English at the College de la Reynerie in France. Prior to that, she was a research assistant and teaching assistant in the Department of Sociology at the University of Florida (UF), and also served as an academic English tutor for the English Language Institute. During her time at UF, she performed SAS programming and analysis of large databases, taught undergraduate Social Methods, and aided foreign graduate students. As a planning assistant for the North Central Florida Health Planning Council (NCFHPC), she was involved in multiple health-planning activities for a 16-county region in North Central Florida, created and managed Microsoft Access databases, and produced statistical reports. Her work at NCFHPC focused primarily on Florida’s Healthy Start program, coordinating prenatal care for migrant fruit-picking women in the state, and the health and well-being of older adults. Other research experience includes planning, coordinating, and executing a qualitative study of women who were widowed while living in a large leisure-oriented retirement community in North Central Florida. This work won the 2004 university-wide Leighton E. Cluff Award for research and writing in the field of aging. She also worked on a longitudinal study that focused on disability, intergenerational transfer, and aging.

Ms. Youngblood obtained a master of arts in sociology and a bachelor of arts in cultural anthropology from the University of Florida. She received a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification from the American University of Paris.