Sherry Gay-Dagnogo

Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, M.Ed., has been hailed as a hybrid education advocate and community activist in the City of Detroit. With more than two decades of combined experience working with the Detroit City Council, relentless community service, and leadership as a Detroit Public School science teacher, gives her an unparalleled approach to spark change in Detroit’s educational and political landscape.

As a first generation college graduate, Sherry’s career trajectory embodies the principle to tear down obstacles and construct opportunities to promote the achievement of others. Her no-nonsense approach in the classroom garnered the respect of parents, students and her colleagues, as she shared through professional development seminars how to manage and transform learning.

Sherry has led community engagement projects funded by the City of Detroit, Great Start Collaborative, the Kresge Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, UCLA, United Way of Southeastern MI, and the Skillman Foundation. She has also fostered community partnerships to host Education Summits and Town Halls with local and federal elected officials including Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, and Congressman Hansen Clarke.

Sherry’s primary objective as representative of Detroit’s “New” House District 8 is to build partnerships to advance policy that will improve and support: Quality Public Education, Academic Accountability, Small Business and Job Development, and Safe thriving communities. Her vision to transform education is infectious and has caught the attention of many including award winning journalist Dan Rather, as she is featured in HD-Network’s documentary chronicling DPS.

Sherry’s commitment to community service began as a youth volunteering on various campaigns and grassroots initiatives; however, her tenure with the Detroit City Council for more than nine years, under the leadership of Councilmember Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and Councilman Clyde Cleveland, sparked an even greater commitment to public service.

Sherry is an active resident and member of the North Rosedale Park Community Association (NRPCA), She serves on the Marketing Committee for the 2012 Legacy Project, and she also serves on the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation (GRDC) Community Engagement Taskforce.

Her unwavering commitment to community is evident as she has served on the 2010-2011 Detroit School Board Transition and Superintendent Search Committees. She is a 2009 Center for Progressive Leadership Fellow, 2008 Education Pioneers Fellow, and selected as a 2008 Barack Obama Fellow, currently serving as Chair of the Cass Tech Advisory Stakeholder’s Committee, and the National Congress of Black Women Education Committee. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Detroit College Promise, member of the AFT/DFT, Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Democratic Party, Fannie Lou Hamer, NAACP, SCLC, and 14th Congressional District.

Sherry’s passionate resolve to give back comes from spiritual values instilled by her mother, the business acumen of her grandmother, and the grassroots commitment of her Godmother. She is a member of Greater Grace for more than 33 years, a wife of 19 years, the mother of teenage son Jordan, 2011 graduate of Cass Technical High School, currently attending South Carolina State University.