Cheryl Mills

Cheryl Mills is founder and chief executive officer of the BlackIvy Group, a company that grows and builds businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to founding BlackIvy, Cheryl served as counselor and chief of staff at the U.S. Department of State where she managed the foreign policy and operational priorities for the $55 billion agency. Prior to joining the State Department, she served as senior vice president for administration and operations as well as general counsel at New York University. During her tenure, Cheryl identified and convened strategic partners and negotiated the structure, framework, terms and conditions for the establishment of the University’s campus in the United Arab Emirates. Cheryl came to New York to join Oxygen Media, where she served as senior vice president for corporate policy and public programming. She previously worked in Washington, D.C., where she served as deputy counsel to the President at the White House. Cheryl's legal experience also includes serving as associate counsel to the President, as deputy general counsel of the Clinton/Gore Transition Planning Foundation, and as an associate at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan and Hartson. Cheryl currently serves on the boards of BlackRock, Inc. (corporate), the Clinton Foundation, and the See Forever Foundation (not-for-profit). She received her Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia.