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Cheryl Howard

  • Former Prosecutor; Chief Executive Officer, African American Heritage Museum

Biography

Cheryl Howard has had a multifaceted professional career of 38 years, encompassing work as an attorney in the private sector, government, corporate, and academic arenas. Since shifting, formerly known as retiring, from her vocation, she now serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the cultural history organization she co-founded in 1990, the African American Heritage Museum, located in historic downtown Pensacola.

Cheryl earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Doctor of Jurisprudence degrees with honors from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Cheryl is a former prosecutor, having served in the Offices of the late United States Attorney, Janet Reno. She later managed the legal information group at Bloomberg, LP headquartered in New York City.

She has served on numerous local boards, including the United Way of Escambia (now United Way of West Florida), Pensacola State College Foundation, Legal Services of Northwest Florida, Favor House Shelter for battered Women (serving two terms as President of the Board), and the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce.

Her Philanthropic memberships are with women service organizations including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Links, Inc. and The Junior League of Pensacola, where she is currently Sustainer President of the Sustainer Board of the Junior League of Pensacola.

Cheryl returned to Pensacola in 2019, and lives here with her husband of 36 years. They are the parents of two adult children, a daughter who is a health law attorney in Boston, and a son who is a CFO and managing director at a Global Fortune 50 Investment Banking Firm headquartered in New York. She is also the proud ‘grand-mere’ of an Australian Labradoodle and a Golden Doodle, loves the Arts, exercise, reading, travel, and inspiring people, women in particular.