Cheryl founded The Leader Project as a place for learning about leadership from Hawai‘i for Hawai‘i. Her career path includes serving on the Board of Education for Hawaiʻi's Department of Education, being CEO for the YWCA of O‘ahu, managing business development for Servco Pacific, Inc., running her own restaurant promoting sustainable local agriculture, and consulting native-led entrepreneurs. Her custom leadership programs have supported organizations such as Omidyar Fellows, the Department of Transportation, Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i, the Department of Education, and the Center for Asian Pacific American Women. Today, she is president and CEO of The Kohala Center, an ‘āina-based non-profit working towards a well-provisioned Kohala holding kuleana once again to transmit knowledge from kupuna and to nourish its siblings. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in international business from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.