Cheryl's work is committed to ending the nation’s reliance on incarceration, developing new approaches to safety and justice, and participating in the national and global conversation around developing effective criminal justice policy. She is also an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University School of Social Work and director of Women Transcending.

In the community, Cheryl is also a board member with the Women’s Community Justice Association, a co-convener of the Justice 4 Women’s Task-Force, an advisor with the Survivors Justice Project and the formerly incarcerated Women’s International Commission, a senior advisor with the Women & Justice Project, and Co-founder and executive team member with Women Building Up. She holds a graduate degree in Urban Affairs and is the recipient of the Brian Fischer Award, Davis Putter Scholarship, Sister Mary Nerney Visionary Award, and Citizens Against Recidivism Award.