Cheryl Williams—Co-President

Cheryl Williams is the Vice President of Education at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In this position, Cheryl oversees the development and coordination for the Corporation’s educational projects in conjunction with partners from across the learning community.

CPB, a private, not-for-profit corporation created by Congress in 1967, develops public radio, television and online services for the American people. The Corporation is the industry’s largest single source of funds for national public television and radio program development and production.

Cheryl speaks frequently on topics related to public education reform and the role new and emerging technologies will play in that reform. She began her career as an English teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she taught Grades 7 and 9 at Western Junior High School. She has been an adult education instructor for business communication skills in Fairfax County, Virginia, where she also taught English at Falls Church High School. Her experience in association management began in 1983 when she served as manager of the Executive Office at the American Association of University Women. She went on to hold a variety of positions at AAUW, including staff associate for Program Development, budget officer, and assistant director in the Executive Office, a senior level position. In 1987, she came to the National School Boards Association (NSBA) as manager of the Technology Leadership Network and moved in 1988 to Director of that program. As the Director of Education Technology Programs for NSBA, Cheryl provided strategic leadership on issues surrounding education technology and public school improvement. In 1991, when ITTE and the Technology Leadership Network were merged, Cheryl became director of both programs.

In 1988, she was selected for the first Future Leaders Conference at Calloway Gardens, Georgia, by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Foundation Board. She earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation in July 1993. She has served on the ASAE Technology and Education Section Councils. In 1995, she was awarded the Monument Award for Excellence in Education by the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives (GWSAE). She is past Chairman of the Board of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and was founding treasurer of the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET). She currently serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board for the EDvancenet project, an initiative of the National School Boards Foundation, the Consortium for School Networking, and MCI Worldcom. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and Secondary Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, and has completed many association management seminars.