Cheryl has been working in the nonprofit sector for 20 years serving first as President of The Ivy Community Charities of Prince George’s County, Inc. (Charities) and currently serving as the organization’s Executive Director since 2008. The organization’s mission is to empower youth and strengthen families as it strives to advance the educational, cultural, health, economic and social status of disadvantaged youth and families across Prince George’s County. As a result of her efforts, the organization’s assets increased five-fold to more than $1.6 million including the acquisition and renovation of the Ivy Youth and Family Center, the establishment of five scholarship endowment funds and three additional reserve funds held in investment accounts. Under her leadership over the past five years, Charities has amassed more than $200,000.00 annually in local grants. Because Charities is the philanthropic arm of the Iota Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and as a result of the nonprofit’s success, Cheryl has presented numerous technical assistance workshops for various sorority and fraternity organizations across the United States.
Cheryl served on several nonprofit boards including the Human Services Coalition/Nonprofit Prince George’s County, Maryland Nonprofits and SEAC, Inc. (Seaton Empowering Action in the Community). Cheryl retired from the Federal Government in 2011 after serving in various capacities including Director of the Office of Technology in Education in the US Department of Education where she managed more than $500 million in grant programs that promoted the use of technology to support teaching and learning including Sesame Street, Super Why!, Word World, Martha Speaks and Maryland Public Television’s Thinkport, an online resource for teachers in the State of Maryland. Her recent community awards include Community Servant Leadership Award from the Office of the County Executive’s Women’s Empowerment Conference; Community Leader of the Year from the Kappa Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; and the WAGO (Women Always Giving to Others) Award from People Achieving Success, Inc.