Cheryle Jackson

Cheryle Jackson

Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and President of AAR Africa

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Cheryle Robinson Jackson’s career has been marked by many firsts, spanning international business, civil rights, politics, government, not-for-profit and the media. Jackson is CEO and Founder of Grit and Grace, The Movement, a women’s empowerment, coaching and media company she founded in 2018. Until 2019, she served as Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and President of AAR Africa for AAR, a global aviation services company. In that role, she identified new business opportunities in emerging, existing and underperforming markets in Africa, Asia, South and North America and succeeded in expanding AAR’s footprint in Africa. Jackson also served as AAR’s Vice President of Government Affairs and Corporate Development after joining the company in 2010.

Jackson formerly served on the boards of Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), a national organization dedicated to facilitating person‐to‐person relationships between U.S. businesses and businesses and government leaders worldwide; the Corporate Council on Africa; the Illinois District Export Council; the Congressional Black Caucus Policy Institute, Northwestern University, The Field Museum, Chicago Foundation for Women.

Prior to joining AAR, Jackson was a candidate for President Obama’s once‐vacant U.S. Senate seat in 2010 and was the first female president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. In that capacity, she led one of the most transformational periods of growth at the venerable civil rights organization, shifting its focus from social services to economic development.

Jackson also served as communications director for the Governor of Illinois and was the first woman and African American in the state’s history to hold that position. Her professional experience also includes senior level positions at Amtrak and NPR (National Public Radio).

In her intimate TEDx Talk “Grit and Grace,” Cheryle validates the career trajectories of go-getters like herself but also implores women to self-advocate and practice grace, love in action toward self, as a sustainable model of success. The overwhelming response led Cheryle to consider ways to serve women on a broader scale with Grit and Grace, The Movement, which provides access to coaching, conferences, events and content to inspire and empower women.

“Grit + Grace…one won’t let you give up and the other makes it OK to let go.”

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The Art of the Pivot

Maybe you are early in your career and ready to level-up but not sure how to get there. Or you’re mid-career with your sight set on the C-suite but feel stuck, stymied and undervalued. Maybe you’re an industry veteran asking yourself, “what’s next?” or an entrepreneur struggling to break through to the next level. Perhaps you’re at a fork in the road and your job isn’t feeding your soul but your passion project is. Do you stay, start over, or pivot? Knowing when to pivot, how to pivot, and how to perfect your pivot is important to having a career and professional success that matches your highest ambitions.

Choose. Never Wait to be Chosen: How to be a Career Free Agent.

What if recruiters don’t come for you and companies don’t know how to find you? How do you get ahead when faced with barriers - unintentional and intentional? How do you advance your career when the world is in flux? Becoming a career free agent is key to being in the driver’s seat, taking charge of your career, and empowering yourself to choose work that explodes your growth and aligns with your passion. There are four important steps to being a career free agent.

The Holy Grail to Your Highest Ambition: Grace

The conventional thinking is that grit is the key determinant of success. Angela Duckworth gained notoriety with her research and book, Grit. I agree that you can’t have success without resilience and grit. The question is can you sustain success or have life-transforming impact on grit alone.  My career has been marked by many firsts, spanning international business, civil rights, politics, government, not-for-profit and the media. I, like many whose lifestyle is fighting against odds, had grit to spare. My crisis of facing breast cancer and divorce at the same time imploded my life and taught me the power of offering myself grace to reach my highest potential and most audacious goals. This talk explores the role of grace as a lynch pin to success. Grit won’t let you give up but grace makes it okay to let go. The truth is you need both to succeed.

It’s Not Competence Issue, It’s a Confidence Issue

if they don’t fit into the company culture; or have their contributions and achievements overlooked, it undermines confidence and the ability to perform.  One minute you’re certain of your bosslady status, and the next you’re self-censoring and clamming up in meetings, doubting your capabilities and your worth. And then the dreaded-but-predictable happens: someone else shares YOUR great idea, which you couldn’t muster the courage to utter and gets all the credit! We don’t go for stretch opportunities; we self-impose an artificial high bar; and we wrestle with Imposter Syndrome. It’s not a competence issue. It’s a confidence issue. Creating cultures of equality and inclusiveness are key to everyone feeling comfortable enough to bring their authentic selves and best ideas to the table. But there are three steps that we as women can take to bolster our confidence in the toughest of situations.

When Hard Work Doesn’t Pay Off

Throughout my career, I have earned positions where I have been “the first,” and too often “the only,” in one male-dominated industry after another. I observed something interesting. Men got rewarded and promoted for their hard work; women were held back for theirs.  Washington runs on women. Movements are fueled by them. And corporations hum because of them. Smart, hardworking, effective, and loyal women. They know our value. But statistics bear out the fact that women are being held back in the workplace. For all of our hard work, women too often get rewarded with more work, not a promotion. This talk looks at why this happens and specific, tangible steps that women can take to career-proof from implicit and structural bias.
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