Cheryle Jackson

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.”