Sheryl Whitney

Sheryl Whitney is a Partner of Whitney Jennings, a management consulting firm dedicated to helping institutions be more effective and build stronger communities. She comes to this firm after building a record of leadership and creativity in public service. Sheryl served for seven years as Deputy County Executive in King County. In this role she supervised and managed the Departments of Adult and Juvenile Detention, Community and Human Services, Development and Environmental Services, Executive Services, Information Technology, Natural Resources and Parks, Public Health and Transportation, a workforce totaling 13,000 employees. This position also placed Sheryl in a leadership role for numerous transformative initiatives in King County, including those focused on advancing equity and social justice, sustainable housing solutions, policies to slow the rate of climate change, alternatives to incarceration, the quality of rural area service provision and improved program performance measurement and accountability. Utilizing this experience Sheryl provides assistance to local governments seeking innovation through engaging diverse communities and navigating budgetary constraints. She also provides governmental relations services.

Sheryl has provided equitable development consultation to the Ford, Kresge and Open Society Foundations as well as New York University. She has also worked as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and played a key role in helping rethink approaches to fair housing to foster greater inclusion and better influence planning and development patterns in communities.

Sheryl’s passions extend beyond effective public administration, fair/affordable housing, and equitable economic development. She actively advocates for child welfare reform and an improved foster care system. She is also an advocate for homelessness services through a “housing first” model.

Sheryl has a Master’s Degree in International Economic Development from American University in Washington, D.C., a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies from the Jackson School of the University of Washington, and a certificate in Executive Leadership from Seattle University.