Sarita Edwards

Congressional District 5

Sarita gave birth to a son prenatally diagnosed with a rare chromosome abnormality named Edwards Syndrome, Full Trisomy 18. This was when Sarita began focusing on advocacy and public policy related to children and families. Sarita and her husband, Kareem, established the E.WE Foundation, a 501(c)(3) healthcare advocacy organization to create better healthcare outcomes for families affected by Edwards Syndrome.

After participating in a 6-week parenting course, Every Person Influences Children (EPIC) to strengthen her knowledge of childhood behavior, positive reinforcements, and effective communication, Sarita and her husband launched the Literacy, Education, Advocacy, and Policy Program (LEAP). The LEAP program is an instructional resource program promoting health literacy, community education and patient advocacy. Today, Sarita is the CEO and President of the E.WE Foundation. In addition to the work she does with the foundation, Sarita is a host of the Being Rare podcast, a rare disease legislative advocate and a member of multiple coalitions and work groups promoting health and medical equity. She serves as a community congress member providing advice and insight on urgent policy initiatives. She also serves on the executive board for other nonprofit community organizations and is a member of advisory councils within the state and across the country. Sarita and her family were recognized as a 2020 Madison Family of the Year Nominee and received Commemorative Coins from Madison City Council because of their contributions to the community and their positive impact to the city.

In addition, Sarita was recognized as a Rocket City Mom in 2021 and also received the Awesome Mom of Huntsville award.

Sarita is looking forward to serving on the Alabama Parent Advisory Council (PAC) and hopes that together they can identify community resource needs and areas needing improvement. She believes the PAC will promote the parent perspective to create a more proactive approach to crisis prevention, interventions, identify resource accessibility and identify challenges and barriers that delay implementing services.