Cheryl lives, works, and designs in Columbus Ohio. Her interest in Africa, in general, and West Africa in particular, began in 1979 when she was awarded the Wellesley College Waddell Scholarship for travel in Africa. By the 1980s, Cheryl was representing the State of Ohio in Europe, Africa, and Asia as a member of the International Trade Division of the Ohio Department of Development. Cheryl’s first entrepreneurial endeavor was in 1986 when she opened the Procurement Bidding Network. The objective was to inform small to mid-sized companies of the opportunities available in the international procurement market and to aid in their participation in that market. Joining her in her efforts was the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Inter-American Development Bank, all of which accepted her invitation to present workshops (including an official Monthly Briefing by the World Bank), in Columbus, Ohio.  

Motivated by a desire to better understand the seemingly impenetrable obstacles to the economic advancement of African countries, Cheryl secured a MA in International Political Economy from The Ohio State University in 2000. According to Cheryl, “It’s in the data – it is always the data”. And it is the data that reveals that humanitarian intervention has far too readily been the response to the symptoms of economic instability. Simply put, institutions and governments of more industrialized countries seem more inclined toward charity than equity. Cheryl found herself at the World Bank, once again in 2007, but this time arguing for the support of an effort to apply fundamental economic principles as a cornerstone of American interventions on the continent of Africa.

The proposal was simple: encourage multinationals to commit a small percentage of their procurement spend to vetted African companies. While the representatives of the World Bank found the argument sound, there were no takers.

Along with COVID and BLM, 2021 brought the realization that small pebbles often cause great waves. Cheryl was awarded the Wellesley College Steven’s Fellowship in 2020 and leveraged that fellowship into the development of Cheryl Penn Designs. She created a single-source production model that challenges the arguments that substandard conditions for textile workers is necessary and acceptable, that doing business within African countries is unsafe, and perhaps most significant, that there was no way to counteract the devastating impact the $4.8 billion used clothing industry has had on domestic textile sectors across Africa. Having designed and made her own wardrobe for 20 years, Cheryl turned her private passion for designing clothes into a small pebble and launched The White Shirt Project.

Contact Cheryl for more info.