Sherida McMullan Joins Chandler Cultural Foundation Managing Board

With her overriding passion for bringing underrepresented groups into the tech field and a deep understanding of the importance of the arts to develop creative, critical thinkers, the Chandler Cultural Foundation welcomes Sherida McMullan to its Managing Board. The recommendation was made by City of Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke with unanimous Board approval.

The Board, which oversees the mission and operations of the Chandler Center for the Arts tapped McMullan particularly for her expertise in creating strategies to promote talent diversity among Female, Black, Latinx and Native American groups.

McMullan spent over half of her career at Intel where she spearheaded the company’s first Diversity & Inclusion strategy in their Sales and Marketing Group as well as volunteered for several Employee Resource Groups focused on progressing and retaining black, LatinX and female talent in the workforce.

Following her success with these initiatives, her position with Intel expanded to develop strategic workforce plans for the company’s General & Administrative talent pool. Her ground-breaking work looked at the entire ecosystem of an employee life cycle, progressing from recruiting to onboarding, creating systems for inclusion and tackling barriers to progression.

This past year, McMullan was tapped by the Silicon Valley tech powerhouse LYFT, taking the position of Diversity Leader for their Engineering & Rideshare Divisions where she oversees the corporation’s diversity strategies for its Tech, Global Operations and Fleet divisions. LYFT’s Tech/Fleet & Global Ops Division is comprised of 3,500+ employees, representing 90% of its entire workforce.

A graduate of the esteemed Howard University with a degree in Engineering, McMullan witnessed first-hand the dearth of people of color in the tech field. “The problem really starts before college – there is a lack of mentorship and a path forward for kids, especially girls, and it is heightened for girls of color. I discovered a feeling of isolation to be one of the few people of color in the tech industry, especially being a female of color. As a result it has become the passion of my career to do something about it.” – Sherida McMullan

A major advocate for the arts and an artist in her own right, McMullan has worked in theater and recording, and attributes her success in engineering to the nurturing of her left side of the brain. She knows first hand the positive impact the arts have on learning Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, (STEM) and is a champion for STEAM which adds Arts learning for the development of creative, problem-solving professionals.

McMullan joins the Chandler Cultural Foundation Managing Board to bring her advocacy for diversity, mentorship and STEAM to help guide the Chandler community’s cultural initiatives. She also serves on the board of Free Arts of Arizona, and is involved with the Raleigh NC and Phoenix AZ chapters of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., which is a membership organization of mothers with children ages 2 – 19, dedicated to nurturing future African American leaders by strengthening children through leadership development, volunteer service, philanthropic giving and civic duty.

“Sherida is an uncanny strategist. She has an innate ability to identify and get to the root of issues and find comprehensive ways to address and solve them. To have her bring the same leadership and guidance that she brings to multi-billion dollar corporations is so exciting for the city of Chandler and our cultural efforts. She brings a perspective and a knowledge that is of incalculable value to the Chandler Cultural Foundation.” – Jeanne Forbis, Chandler Cultural Foundation Board Chair.

Chandler Center for the Arts is located in the heart of the downtown entertainment district of Chandler at 250 N. Arizona Avenue.