CHERYL PETTY GARNETTE

CEO | Nonprofits Licensed Consultant | Community Leader

Cheryl Petty Garnette is a Maryland Nonprofits Licensed Consultant and CEO of Garnette Consulting.  She served as the Executive Director of The Ivy Community Charities of Prince George’s County, Inc. (Charities) from January 2008 until January 2019 and returned in January 2020. Charities is the non-profit, 501(c)(3) arm of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Iota Gamma Omega Chapter.  The organization provides tutoring, mentoring and leadership development from elementary through high school, training for parents, scholarships for high school seniors, and activities for the elderly. Through her efforts, Charities was recognized in 2014 as a Maryland Nonprofits Standards for Excellence Tier One organization, earned Tier Two status in 2018, recognized in 2015 and 2016 by the United Way for its successful fundraising efforts under Do More 24, selected as the 2017 BB&T Bank Lighthouse Project for Prince George’s County, received more than $1,000,000 in grants from State and local sources over the past five years, and in 2012 acquired the 5200 square foot facility known as the Ivy Youth and Family Center in Suitland, MD. 

Cheryl earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and a Master of Arts degree in Measurement and Statistics, both from the University of Maryland, College Park.  She retired from the U.S. Department of Education in January 2011 after 31 years where she served most recently as the Director of the Office of Technology in Education Programs.  The office administered discretionary grant programs that promoted the use of technology to support teaching and learning.  Over the years, she managed more than $500 million in grants.  

She serves as the Director of Christian Education at Seaton Memorial AME Church in Lanham, MD, was honored as the First Trailblazing Woman of the Year in 2008 and served as the Chair of the church’s 100th Anniversary in 2011. She founded the Women’s Investment Network of Seaton, an investment club to help women understand the scriptural basis for acquiring wealth.  In 2018 she received the Community Service Award from the Kappa Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; and in 2016 she received two community service awards:  Women Always Giving to Others (WAGO) Award by the Partners Achieving Success, Inc. that was featured in the Afro Newspaper; and Prince George’s County’s Office of the County Executive and Commission for Women WE3 (Women Educated, Engaged and Empowered) Community Servant Leader Award.  She was appointed to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.’s International Foundations Committee which advises and provides support to the organization’s chapters that established nonprofit arms.