Beginning her restorative justice career as a trainer and research associate at the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking in the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, Sheryl developed and facilitated Victims, Offenders, Community, A Restorative Experience (VOCARE) dialogues in Minnesota correctional facilities. She also worked as a community mediator with the Victim Offender Conferencing program in Washington County, Minnesota.

In the summer of 2008, Sheryl coordinated a group of victim offender facilitators to serve as support people for witnesses who gave testimony to the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) during hearings for the United States. She continued working with a contingent of the Liberian TRC residing in the Atlanta area through her work as Executive Director of Southern Truth and Reconciliation (STAR).

In the fall of 2017, Sheryl began her role as Director of the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (KIPCOR). She also currently serves as President of the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice, a professional organization for restorative justice practitioners.

In her spare time, Sheryl is working on various writing projects that explore the relationship between the restorative justice movement and racial reconciliation. She has recently completed a chapter of Colorizing Restorative Justice, a book about restorative justice practitioners of color and the challenges they face published in 2020. Sheryl and her husband LeRoy are the parents of two sons.