Cheri Wright

Director, Student Success Initiatives - Florida

Cheri Wright is a Director of Student Success Initiatives in Florida, where she plays a key role in contributing to the strategic goals and objectives aligned with the Foundation's Black Student Success Initiative. In this position, Cheri is responsible for the development and implementation of initiatives aimed at addressing challenges faced by Black and low-income students in the education system.

Prior to joining Helios, Cheri served as the Director of Strategic Partnerships at THI. She began working in philanthropy as regional vice president with the Allegany Franciscan Ministries Foundation. In this role she managed funding initiatives that support nonprofits, emphasizing collaboration and mission-related investing with a focus on the social influencers of health to support healthy people and communities. Through this work Cheri led community engagement, strategy, and executed plans to transform population health through a lens of innovation, racial, and health equity.  A hallmark of Cheri’s career was serving at the Pinellas Community Foundation as Senior Program Officer, CARES Nonprofit Partnership Fund to oversee the distribution and usage of $30M CARES Act Federal Funding for Pinellas County.  

Cheri is committed to the Tampa Bay community. She volunteers her time by serving on the Board of Trustees for St. Anthony’s Hospital, Moffitt Hospital African American Advisory Committee, Blue Ridge Leadership Institute, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She holds a Master of Science degree from Florida A&M University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and psychology from the University of South Florida.