Sheryl Walton is a native of Oakland, California, and a proud single mom of one son, a Captain & Chaplain in the U.S. Airforce, and a Grandmother of three. Sheryl has a B.A. in Child Development from Mills College and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley with an emphasis on community organizing, community building, leadership development, health, and welfare. 

She’s published chapters in several public health journals and books. Since retiring from Alameda County Public Health Dept., where she developed and implemented the first Time Bank in Northern California, e.g. Sobrante Park Time Banking, she worked for BOSS running the largest homeless shelter and transitional houses in Alameda County and then worked as a fundraising manager with Oakland Rising for several years. Her firm, Walton & Associates continues to provide consulting services for many institutions and groups and currently, the East Oakland Stadium Alliance protecting the Oakland Waterfront. 

For 25 years, she worked for three local public health departments as a program manager to assess, plan, evaluate, organize, and empower low-income communities of color to demand better health outcomes in maternal, and child, health and better quality of life in their environment, she has developed sustainable partnerships and relationships between residents, community-based organizations, institutions, and policymakers throughout the Bay Area region. Her passion is to erase the racial, economic, political, environmental, and educational inequities that have created barriers and poor health outcomes within Black communities. 

Sheryl’s 30-plus year commitment to public service can also be seen through her leadership roles volunteering in the community as chair of several organizations and community groups: Block by Block Organizing Network for 12 years, Central City East PAC, Board Secretary with Coalition for Police Accountability, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club Coordinating Council, Vice President of Healthy Black Families, Inc., Board member with TimeBanksUSA/TimeBanks.org and member of Allen Temple’s Public Ministry.