Cheryl Hyman

Cheryl Hyman leads a team that focuses on developing and scaling up innovative strategies to help students transition from high school to postsecondary education and career pathways. She also builds national networks to share learning and spur system-level change.

Before joining the Gates Foundation in 2025, Cheryl was vice provost for academic alliances at Arizona State University, where she led transformative initiatives and the development of cutting-edge technology tools to address the national transfer problem.

Earlier, Cheryl served as chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, where she oversaw a $700 million budget and more than 100,000 students. Her leadership focused on student success and system transformation. Before joining the higher education sector, she spent 14 years at Commonwealth Edison Co. in roles spanning information technology, strategy, and government affairs.

Cheryl serves on several national and local boards and speaks across the country on higher education, leadership, and equity. A first-generation college graduate and proud alum of Olive-Harvey College and Illinois Institute of Technology, she has graduate degrees from North Park University and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

She is the author of Reinvention: The Promise and Challenge of Transforming a Community College System.