Sharifa Wilkinson is from Toronto, Canada, and holds a Master of Education degree from the University of Ottawa. She began her career teaching professional development master classes and certificate programs for The Event School London. She later leveraged her education and professional experience to lecture in Sport Management at St Mary’s University, Twickenham.

Sharifa's passion for events, sports and venues began at Syracuse University in upstate New York, where she played Division I soccer. After competing at one of the highest levels of women’s soccer, she transitioned from participating in sporting events to organizing them.

Sharifa has worked on major events around the world in Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and most recently Qatar. She has worked for organizing committees and host countries in venue management and operations planning for four international sporting events: the 2015 Pan/Parapan Am Games, 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2019 Arafura Games and 2022 FIFA World Cup. She also served as Senior Venue Manager at Tower Bridge, delivering hospitality, catering and events for clients including the English Football League, TED Talks, London Marathon and adidas.