Cherylee Sherry, MPH, MCHES
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Cherylee brings 40 years of leadership and program development experience in community health and health care to the Minnesota Department of Health. She is currently the manager for the Healthy Systems and Communities units for the Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives and is the lead for Minnesota’s CDC State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) grant. Prior to joining MDH, Cherylee led community health initiatives addressing maternal & child health and chronic disease at an urban safety net hospital and was the executive director of a community health clinic in Minnesota that provided clinical, health education and home health care services. She was also the project director for an adolescent pregnancy & prevention services consortium and a comprehensive child development program in Brooklyn, NY. Cherylee is a Masters-level Certified Health Education Specialist. She completed her MPH with a concentration in global health at New York University and she received her BS/BA degrees in community health education and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. She began her public health journey during high school volunteering in Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico.
Cherylee has numerous national and state leadership positions. She is a member of the Division Board for Certification of Health Education Specialists of NCHEC, Trustee for Strategic Initiatives for the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE), the executive board of the Minnesota SOPHE Chapter, co-chair for the Minnesota Public Health Association’s leadership committee and in her spare time, she volunteers for a Native American-led woman’s health organization in Bemidji, MN.