Sarah Berel-Harrop was interviewed in 2010 by Kori Bertun, Di Yu, and Jason Moses.

Berel-Harrop agreed that the students could mount a Wikipedia entry about her. The original Wikipedia entry is provided below.

Informed consent, a video, and extended paper documentation for the interview are available at the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Return to the SWGS 201 interviewee list.

Sarah Berel-Harrop is a straight ally who advocates for GLBT rights and other social justice issues in Houston, TX. She is associated with the PFLAG Houston chapter, as well as the Unitarian Fellowship of Houston.

Sarah Berel-Harrop
Residence	Houston, Texas
Alma mater	Cornell University
Profession	Independent Financial Reporting

Berel-Harrop holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature from Cornell University, a Master of Business Administration degree from University of Texas at Austin, and a public accounting degree from University of Houston. She is also a Certified Public Accountant in Texas.

Ms. Berel-Harrop is the mother of two daughters. She was introduced to the Unitarian Universalists through her mother, who herself was the president of a congregation. She is a Texas native, and currently resides in the Montrose, Houston area.

Faith Organization Involvement

Sarah Berel-Harrop is an active member of the Unitarian Fellowship of Houston congregation. The UFOH is a Welcoming Congregation.

To address issues in the community, there exists a “Social Justice and Community Action” committee, of which Berel-Harrop used to head. This committee is involved with many other Houston organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, The League of Women Voters , PFLAG, Amnesty International.^[1] They particularly focused their efforts on an organization called Turning Point, which provides services for elderly homeless people.

Ms. Berel-Harrop has also has worked to combat racism by utilizing the UFOH congregation. She held several workshops and book discussions targeted towards racial issues. In her interview with InterConnections (a newsletter for Unitarian leaders) she states, “Part of the problem as I see it is a desire to equate antiracism with some kind of advocacy. That's to some degree a way of avoiding introspection into how oppressive systems work and where we fit into them."

Though she does not currently chair any committees, she remains an active member of the congregation.^[2] In addition to being involved locally with the Unitarian Church, Ms. Berel-Harrop is the Texas state contact for the Unitarian Universalists.

PFLAG

Ms. Berel-Harrop is a prominent member of PFLAG Houston. In 2006, she became a member of the Board, and served as Treasurer until 2008. As the dual Programs Chair and Speakers Bureau Chair, she is responsible for finding speakers to address the organization and facilitating small groups for discussion. She currently organizes most of her activism efforts, such as political campaigning and social justice, through PFLAG.

Other Activism

Sarah Berel-Harrop was a volunteer for the “No Nonsense November” campaign, which fought against a Texas state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions.^[3] Sarah was interviewed by The Signal (UT Clearlake student publication) and was quoted as saying, "The second part of the amendment could be used to impede or void contracts that gay men and lesbians use to protect their families. It's a grave injustice that's being done, and it's my obligation to do what I can to stop it."^[4]

She is also responsible for an online petition that showed support for Ford Motor Company’s refusal to reverse its policies that disallow for discrimination against gender identity and/or sexual orientation. Ford’s policies were a response to theAmerican Family Association’s boycott. Her petition collected over 800 signatures.^[5]

Through political campaigns, Sarah Berel-Harrop has fought against various anti-gay measures, such as the Texas Proposition 2 and the derogatory references to homosexuals in textbooks based on creationism (championed by Terri Leo). She has also worked with AIDS Services in Austin, and worked on the campaign of Hubert Vo.

Blogging

Sarah Berel-Harrop is a regular commenter on various blogs, as well as being a blog writer herself (until 2005). Her particular interests include creationism and GLBT issues .^[6] She has posted on blogs such as the Discover Magazine blog and Off the Kuff.^[7] She is a frequent contributor under the name “GLBT and Friends” on DailyKos, and she has been featured on the blog’s recommended diaries list for her piece about Transgender Day of Remembrance.^[8]

Her own blog, mUUSings was cowritten with two other authors. The blog ran from November 2004 to July 2005.^[9]

Career

Recently, Sarah Berel-Harrop started her own independent contracting firm working with financial reporting and SEC filings for public companies.

Sarah Berel- Harrop was the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Hyperdynamics Corporation in 1996.^[10] Hyperdynamics is an oil and gas extraction company based in Sugar Land, TX.^[11] It holds the largest share of exploration and exploitation rights off the shore of the Republic of Guinea. She resigned on June 30th, 2009 to work as an independent contractor. Previously, she held the position of Corporate Secretary. Ms. Berel-Harrop has been an accountant with Hyperdynamics on a consulting basis since 2001.

Prior to Hyperdyamics, she worked as a staff accountant at Malone and Bailey, PC, until 1998 as an accounting consultant for various public companies, and as treasurer/controller of Harrop Construction Company, Inc., a privately owned mid-sized construction company.

References

1. ^ "UUA: Congregations Respond To Racism, Oppression." UUA: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. 30 July 2007. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. <http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/leaderslibrary/interconnections/15136.shtml>.
2. ^ Social Witness Process Call for Congregational Study. (2009, September 10). Retrieved January 2010, from Uniterian Universalist Association of Congregations: http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/issuesprocess/process/index.shtml
3. ^ Beavers, K. (2009). Constitutional Amendment Stirs Marriage Debate. The Signal , 4.
4. ^ Beavers, Kelly. "Constitutional Amendment Stirs Marriage Debate." The Signal [Houston] 2005. Print.
5. ^ Berel-Harrop, Sarah. "Support Ford Motor Company." PetitionOnline.com. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
6. ^ Zimmer, C. (2006, January 6). Latest Creationism Friendly Texas Governor . Discover , p. 1.
7. ^ Smith, A. (2005). Stopping the Nonesense. The Austin Chronicle , 28-35.
8. ^ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/20/805900/-WGLB-Presents:-Transgender-Day-of-Remembrance
9. ^ Berel-Harrop, S. (2005, July 17). mUUsings. Retrieved January 2010, from Blogspot: http://sberel.blogspot.com/
10. ^ Hyperdynamics Appoints New CFO. (2008, June 24). Retrieved January 2010, from Street Insider: http://www.streetinsider.com/Management+Changes/Hyperdynamics+%28HDY%29+Appoints+Sarah+Berel-Harrop+as+CFO/3769135.html
11. ^ Gale. (2008). Hyperdynamics Strengthens Financial Management and Governance. Business Wire , 1-2.