On bright South Texas mornings, Sharon Bailey Murphy begins her workday with a quiet ritual. She plays soft gospel music (or sometimes Earth, Wind & Fire) and takes a moment to acknowledge her blessings. From her office window inside the old Port Harbormaster building, the bay glistens, serving as a daily reminder of the air and water she works to protect.
As Executive Director of the Coastal Bend Air Quality Partnership, Bailey Murphy leads one of the region’s most complex and emotionally charged collaborations. She spends her days guiding municipalities, industry leaders, environmental agencies and residents toward a shared goal of keeping the Coastal Bend’s air clean for the people who call it home.
Her job requires technical expertise and a level head in conversations that sit at the tricky intersection of industry and advocacy. Yet she continues to lead with the same devotion she carries in her everyday life, a leadership rooted in scripture and shaped by a deep‑rooted calling to protect others.
“Whether or not I’m doing it professionally, I’m going to be Sharon, the ambassador for Christ,” she said. “He’s put me in a place where I can open doors for people.”
From a young age, Bailey Murphy knew her time on Earth served a greater purpose. One of the oldest of her mother’s five children, she remembers growing up in the Hillcrest projects as a childhood defined by self‑determination and church on Sundays. While other children played outside, she and her siblings cooked dinner, finished homework and stayed indoors. They raised themselves while their mother Bernice served as a domestic worker for those living on Ocean Drive. Once a Black Debutante, Princess of Victoria, Bernice raised her children and put herself through nursing school alone—all without ever losing her faith.
“It was a long time before I realized how young she must have been,” Bailey Murphy reflected. “I’m grateful that my mom knew Jesus and made us go to Sunday school. I could have been a product of the projects. We all could have.”
Her mother’s courage became her blueprint: Protect your people, stay rooted in faith and keep moving forward. But she veered off that path when, after a lifetime of sheltered living, she moved to “Chocolate City,” Washington, D.C., at the height of ’80s decadence. For the first time, she witnessed a level of Black excellence she hadn’t known existed—but the distractions of the disco era soon got the best of her.
One night, standing on a dance floor under strobe lights, she felt a sudden clarity. Things had gone too far, and it was time to go home. Returning to Corpus Christi defeated and disappointed, she started the difficult task of forging her way back. In the meantime, God had one more trial for her.
In 1986, fresh into her first marriage and six months pregnant, her water broke. She spent two weeks in the hospital and went home empty‑handed. Her first baby, Michaiah Christian, didn’t make it.
“My God, that was the worst thing I ever went through,” she said. “I remember saying ‘God, I don’t know what you could want to teach me by taking my baby. I can’t go any further with you until you talk to me and tell me this is okay.’ That’s when He gave me Isaiah 54.”
The passage promised restoration and a life of fruitful blessings. More children came in the form of her healthy daughter Stephanie and what she calls her “work children,” those she mentors and guides through their professional careers. When her marriage ended soon after, she rebuilt again, returning to school and stepping into the field that would change her life.
Resilience, kindness and faith became the defining characteristics of her leadership. She began in environmental health at a “mom and pop” chemical supply company, where she first learned the technical language of environmental protection. She went on to spend 13 years with the City of Corpus Christi overseeing environmental affairs, sustainability initiatives and compliance.
Finding herself in a good groove, she dug her roots deeper and joined the regional air‑quality group, now the Coastal Bend Air Quality Partnership, working unpaid overtime to help shape early initiatives, build community relationships and guide its transition into the successful nonprofit it is today.
During her time with the City, she earned financial assistance that allowed her to finally pursue her master’s degree through online courses completed between 2019 and 2021. During that year and a half of quarantine, she continued her work from home, studied for her MPA and fell head over heels for her now-husband, Dr. Rich Murphy. Meeting on a dating site, they spent four months together before marrying in August 2019—a loving marriage Bailey Murphy felt long overdue.
“Cherish is a different word from love,” she said. “Rich cherishes me. He feeds my mind, my will, my emotions and my intellect. When I was young, I read romance comic books and romance novels. Real love really is nothing like that. It’s better. It’s comfortable.”
As the Partnership’s first executive director, Bailey Murphy continues to lead regional emissions‑reduction efforts and represent the Coastal Bend at state and national levels. Her footprints, guided by Christ, have led her through hardship and into purpose. Today, they lead her to a mission that feels as scientific as it is sacred: caring for the Coastal Bend by caring for its air and people.
