Sherrell Hendrix
Chief of Staff
Strategic Mind. Operational Muscle. Team Heart.
Sherrell Hendrix, Ph.D. builds the infrastructure that lets mission-driven work hold together. For more than 16 years, she has helped foundations, nonprofits, and schools translate vision into execution, designing the systems, strategies, and team cultures that make ambitious goals achievable.
As Chief of Staff at Key Strategic Group, Sherrell leads engagements across strategic planning, program design, governance, and operational infrastructure. She shaped the research and strategic framing for a statewide health foundation’s strategic plan, synthesizing stakeholder input and data into priorities the team could act on. She designed and led a postsecondary access initiative by building the program model, partnership strategy, and early implementation plan from the ground up. Her board development work has helped governing bodies sharpen their roles, strengthen alignment, and clarify what comes next.
Beyond KSG, Sherrell brings extensive consulting and evaluation experience to her practice. She has authored more than 20 evaluation reports and synthesized findings across hundreds of participants and tens of thousands of data points, translating complex information into insights leaders can use. She approaches every engagement with the conviction that strategy without operational discipline rarely produces lasting change, and that the strongest organizations are built when values and daily decisions move in the same direction.
Sherrell holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and a M.S. Ed in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Old Dominion University. She also holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia, and a Post-Master’s Certificate in Program Evaluation from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She serves on the Board of Directors for Lede New Orleans.
KEY EXPERIENCES
The Strategic Consultancy LLC
Through The Strategic Consultancy, Sherrell partners with mission-driven organizations to strengthen the systems and structures that support their work. Prior engagements have included serving as Program Officer for a summer learning loss prevention initiative across a portfolio of charter schools, project managing a leadership cohort initiative, and leading operations for a community initiative inclusive of several public events. She also works alongside small nonprofits as they right-size their operations, designing the processes and procedures that allow them to grow with intention.
Dignity Best Practices
As Founding Chief Operating Officer, Sherrell built the operational backbone of a five-person organization in its earliest stage. She organized the finance function and shepherded the team through its first successful audit, brought compliance and insurance practices into alignment, and created a financial modeling and forecasting system that gave leadership a clearer view of long-term sustainability. She also guided the organization through several iterations of its business model as it was right-sized to match its mission and capacity.
Quality Measures LLC
Sherrell has spent more than a decade with Quality Measures, where her evaluation work has focused on STEM programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She has authored more than 20 formative and summative evaluation reports that translate complex findings into insights leadership teams can act on, drawing from data collected across hundreds of participants and tens of thousands of data points.
Saint Louis Language Immersion School
As Operations Director, Sherrell led non-instructional operations for a multilingual school serving 450 students and 40 staff. She managed a $1M facility repair project following extensive water damage, oversaw renovations for a new Early Childhood center, and designed the school’s operational COVID-19 response, including distributing Chromebooks to every student and standing up hybrid instruction for the 2020-2021 school year.
Old Dominion University
Sherrell’s career in data analysis, assessment, and evaluation began at Old Dominion University, where she led reputational surveys supporting student enrollment, degree programs, and senior administrative decisions. She was recognized repeatedly for her ability to translate complex data into clear insights that informed executive leadership and conversations with government partners.