Cheryl is a mother, wife, and granddaughter of a farmer. She began her career in education teaching middle and high school science in Baltimore City Public Schools and has over 20 years of practitioner experience in education. She has held several local and national leadership roles, including with the KIPP charter network, the Fisher Fellowship Program for KIPP Foundation, New Leaders, and a national foundation, where she launched and currently leads the Equity by Design portfolio focused on building the capacity of systems to provide equitable culturally affirming environments to students through change management and the development and retention of educators of color.
 
Cheryl’s work collaborates with stakeholders across multiple systems to close the opportunity gap. Her prior leadership experience includes overseeing the design and implementation of national program offerings (New Leaders), leading the development and evaluation of an international cohort of aspiring principals (Fisher Fellowship Program for KIPP Foundation), and founding KIPP DC College Preparatory in Southeast Washington, DC, which was the highest performing non-selective High School in DC for both math and reading. She holds a BS from the University of Maryland College Park and a Master’s in Education Administration from National Louis University, and serves as a Capstone Instructor at Penn Graduate School of Education.