SHARON MCCARRY
Executive Director and Coco’s Mom
Sharon McCarry is a passionate community advocate for families living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neuro-developmental disabilities. She is committed to making meaningful and significant change in policies and services to benefit families in disability communities.
In 2008, she founded La Fondation Place Coco, a Canadian charity that manages and operates the Little Red Playhouse (LRP). LRP is an integrated preschool, where neuro-diverse and neuro-typical young children learn side-by-side in a supportive educational setting.
McCarry is also an active volunteer. She is a member of the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) Advisory Committee on the Disability Tax Credit, which advises the Minister of National Revenue and the CRA on how the Agency can improve the way it administers and interprets tax measures for Canadians with disabilities. She is also a member of the Steering Committee for CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal contributing to their Strategic plan. She has been a proud member of the Advisory Committee for the Strongest Families Neurodevelopment Program with the Child Bright Pan Canadian Research network: Parents Empowering Neurodiverse Kids, which provides evidence-based parent coaching interventions for the last 3 years. Most recently, she was named the Director of Citizen Engagement for the Child Bright Network, a part of the Strategic Patient Oriented Research group, and sits on their Executive Committee and National Steering Committee funded by CIHR and 25 other funding partners.​
An accomplished business professional, McCarry has also worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies in marketing strategy and brand management. McCarry holds a BA from McGill University and lives in Montreal, Quebec, where she is a mother to two sons, one with autism.