Cheryl Wilson

Cheryl Wilson

Executive Director
Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission

Cheryl Wilson serves as the Executive Director for the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, which was created by the General Assembly for the purpose of planning for and commemorating the 250th anniversary of Virginia’s participation in American independence, the duration of which will be 2022 through 2031. The Commission is composed of legislative leaders, tourism and economic development officials, historians, and experts across a wide spectrum.

Prior to serving with the VA250 Commission, Cheryl worked with the Virginia General Assembly for more than 30 years, in leadership positions of varied and increasing responsibility. Most recently, she served as Deputy Clerk for Committee Operations for the House of Delegates, overseeing hundreds of legislative meetings, and working closely with leadership to ensuring proper parliamentary procedure and process. Before that, Cheryl was a senior manager with the Division of Legislative Services, where she drafted bills and resolutions, staffed the House and Senate Rules committees, and handled special projects.

From its creation in 2006 to its culmination in 2015, Cheryl served as the Executive Director of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, which was chaired by Speaker of the House Bill Howell, and was charged with planning the statewide commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Virginia. Widely hailed as a national model for a commemoration that was balanced and inclusive of all perspectives, Civil War 150 was a major multi-year event that involved nearly every locality in Virginia and cross-partner collaborations with other states. Fostering close partnerships with historic sites, national parks, museums, tourism organizations, and agencies across the state, Cheryl was responsible for planning, developing, and managing all commission activities and programs, including an award-winning mobile museum exhibition, popular Signature Conferences, dozens of large-scale commemorative events, a document digitization effort that located and preserved 32,000 documents, and a matching grant program for local partners.

Cheryl then served as Executive Director of the Virginia World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission, which developed statewide programs to mark the 100th anniversary of WWI and the 75th anniversary of WWII, including poignant ceremonies to honor living veterans of WWII.

Cheryl graduated summa cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Master of Public Administration. She has been honored to receive numerous awards, including the Governor’s Award from Richmond Region Tourism and the Chairman’s Award for Excellence by the Civil War Trust.