Cheryl Stokes

Cheryl is the CEO of CNEXT, a leadership development and executive networking company that helps connect, develop and advance high-impact leaders. Before taking on her CEO role, Cheryl was a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles, consulting in the firm’s Leadership Development, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Culture Shaping practices.

Before joining Heidrick & Struggles, Cheryl was the regional managing director for Duke Corporate Education’s European operations. Under her leadership, the region enjoyed its strongest growth and profitability in Duke CE history. Previously, Cheryl was the director of organization capability for The Coca-Cola Company, where she worked with the company and the bottling system across the US, Europe, Russia, Latin America, and the Philippines. Cheryl’s wide-ranging career experience also includes work as a Senior Metallurgical and Process Engineer at Alcoa and in Electrical and Product Engineering at General Motors.

Cheryl was named one of the 25 Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal in March 2020 and was named one of Paradigm for Parity’s Women on the Rise in August 2020. She is currently on the Executive Leadership Team for the American Heart Association’s Triangle-area Go Red for Women Initiative and was named the 2022 Woman of Impact for the Triangle area.

Cheryl earned dual Master’s degrees in Management and Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as part of the Leaders for Global Operations Program and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from GMI Engineering & Management Institute (formerly General Motors Institute, now Kettering).

 "Your career path is fascinating - from engineering at GM and Alcoa to leadership development. How did your technical background shape your approach to developing leaders, and what insights from engineering still influence your work today?"

 "CNEXT focuses on high-impact leaders. Based on your experience across multiple industries and continents, what leadership qualities have you found to be most crucial for driving meaningful organizational change in today's complex business environment?"

Connect with Billy @ - https://www.linkedin.com/in/billydexter/
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