Asia Adams Save OUR Children Foundation
Biography of Shelah Harper, MBA- Founder & CEO

Rates of Teen Dating Violence (TDV) have grown significantly over the last decade. In 2009, 17.3% of Philadelphia public high school students were victims of dating violence, compared to 9.6% in Pennsylvania (statewide) and 9.8% nationally.[1] Girls between the ages of 16-24 are most vulnerable. Regrettably, the issue of TDV is such taboo few acknowledge its prevalence. Since 2004, after the TDV victimization of my only child Asia, I’ve developed a passion for researching the environmental and individual factors that contribute to TDV occurrence. Working with researchers and scholars, reading the literature, observing interactions between young women and men, developing curriculum, talking with young people has enabled me to fuse these unique perspectives-experience into a discourse in which young people respond and immediately engage.

Shelah Harper, MBA- founded the Asia Adams Save OUR Children Foundation in 2004 after the devastating loss of her only child, 21 year old daughter Asia Melanie Adams, to dating violence. The mission of the Asia Adams Save OUR Children Foundation is to empower children and youth (ages 4-24). The focus is on girls, to build healthy productive lives through education, advocacy and program supports. With a core premise of social justice for girls, women and children, the Foundation advocates for policies to strengthen, honor and empower girls and young women across health, education, safety, and public welfare systems. Previously she was CEO of a successful consulting firm Health Revenue and Management for more than 2 decades, providing supports to Philadelphia’s most innovative Health Care groups including PriceWaterhouseCoopers (an international consulting firm specializing in Healthcare).

Since inception, the Asia Adams Save OUR Children Foundation (a 501C3 non-profit) has served more than 5,000 students from elementary through post secondary schools. Some programs Asia Adams Save OUR Children Foundation provides include Love Speak for ME a Dating Violence Prevention Project, Steps to a Healthier ME- an obesity prevention project, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Health & Safe Girls Summits, Annual WCU conference, as well as girls mentoring and leadership programs.

Ms. Harper holds a Master’s in Business Administration in Health Care from LaSalle University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Lincoln University (class of 76), and has completed post-graduate work in Non-Profit Management and Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Committed to community service she has served as Chair of the Board of Citizens for Mattie Humphrey Center (Public Health District #9) in Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Harper also served on United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania Funding Allocations committee, Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services Child Welfare Advisory Board, active spokesperson for the Consolidated Board of Citizens for all Philadelphia public health center’s for issues affecting the health of children specifically, Healthy Start, and Fetal Infant Mortality and Child Homicide Review boards.