Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, M.Ed, is an at-large member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education in Michigan. She assumed office on January 1, 2021, after winning the general election November 3, 2020, and ending her third and final term as State Representative of Michigan’s 8th House District, December 31, 2020, due to term limits.
As State Representative, Member Gay-Dagnogo was the first woman to serve as Chair of the Michigan Legislative Detroit Caucus, from 2017-2020, and the first Urban Education Advisory Chair. She also served as Executive Vice Chair of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, as Vice Chair of Financial Services, and on the Insurance, and Families Children, and Seniors Committees.
Member Gay-Dagnogo became known as a leader that never backs down from a fight for justice. She was nominated as “Legislator of the Year” and recognized by her colleagues and MIRS News as an effective leader and one of the most prolific speakers in the history of Michigan’s Legislature. Gay-Dagnogo sponsored and co-sponsored a number of key policies signed into law; however, her greatest legacy is Criminal Justice Reform, with the passage of Michigan’s Clean Slate and Good Moral Character Laws, for which she was recognized by the Legal Aid and Defenders Association Incorporated for her passion, commitment and dedicated service in support of Equal Access to Justice.
Member Gay-Dagnogo is the recipient of the Michigan Democratic Black Caucus Annette Rainwater Grassroots Organizing Award, John Conyers Trailblazer Award, the Michigan Chronicle Women of Excellence Award, the Legal Aid and Defenders Association Award, and was recently nominated for the Wade McCree Justice award to name a few.
Member Gay-Dagnogo is an Educational Leader, with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Education in Instructional Technology from Wayne State University, a former Detroit Public Schools Science Teacher, with extensive community organizing experience. Gay-Dagnogo has an infectious dedication to transforming Michigan’s education systems, as she knows firsthand the opportunities that a quality education provides. She is a 2008 Education Pioneers Fellow, and she led the 2010-2012 Kindergarten Readiness initiatives sponsored by Great Start Collaborative, UCLA, United Way of Southeast Michigan, and the Kresge, Kellogg and Skillman Foundation.
Member Gay-Dagnogo is an effective Community Organizer, with 9½ years of experience as a Legislative Aide to Detroit City Council member, Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and the late Clyde Cleveland, respectively. She led community engagement initiatives to repeal the Emergency Manager Laws funded by UAW, AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 25, served as a community liaison with the late Congressman John Conyers, Jr., and in 2021 as lobbyist to the UAW.
Gay-Dagnogo currently serves as a Government Relations Consultant, in addition to her role as Government Relations and Academic Outreach Director for Team Wellness Center. She hopes to bring coalition building to the Detroit School Board to ensure a safe quality public education for all Detroit Schoolchildren, and a thriving and welcoming district for all DPSCD staff.
Member Gay-Dagnogo is a lifelong resident of the city of Detroit, a former V.P. of North Rosedale Park Civic Association, where she remains actively engaged. She’s a mom of one son Jordan, a DPS and Cass Tech Graduate; and a proud mom of her rescue Bella, a Beagle-Pointer.