Sherly Chavarria

Dr. Sherly Chavarria is the President of the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, where she leads the Foundation’s strategy, operations, and grantmaking in service of its mission to advance equity and opportunity in Chicago.

Prior to becoming President, Sherly served as Senior Program Officer for Education at the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. Before joining philanthropy, she held senior leadership roles at Chicago Public Schools, including Chief of Teaching and Learning. In that role, Sherly helped launch major districtwide initiatives, including the Skyline Curriculum Equity Initiative, the CPS Tutor Corps Program, and the district’s accountability policy, strengthening access to high-quality instructional materials, targeted academic support, and more equitable approaches to evaluating school performance.

Earlier in her career, Sherly was Principal of William P. Nixon Elementary School, where she led the school’s transition to a dual language model in close partnership with educators and families. She began her career as a classroom teacher in Chicago Public Schools.

Sherly previously served as a Director on the Illinois State Board of Education and currently serves as a board member of the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative advisory board and the Chicago Academy High School Advisory Local School Council.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and cultural and social anthropology from Stanford University, a Master of Arts in teaching from National Louis University, and a Doctor of Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her free time, Sherly enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and exploring amateur woodworking.