Cheryl McKissack Daniel

Newly Elected New York Building Foundation Chair

Cheryl McKissack Daniel, honored as a “Hero of Liberty” for her support of humanitarian initiatives and for promoting the responsibilities of a free and diverse America, is the newly elected chair of the New York Building Foundation. President and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, the oldest black-woman owned design and construction firm in the country, McKissack Daniel has blazed a trail for other women, especially Black women in the construction field.

Cheryl represents the fifth generation of the McKissack family’s century-old business. Moses McKissack, her great-grandfather and a former slave, laid the foundation for the business having learned the trade of brick-making from his owner. He passed knowledge on to Cheryl’s grandfather and great-uncle, who incorporated the business in 1905. When Cheryl’s father, who had taken over the business from his father, suffered a stroke in 1982, her mother, Leatrice B. McKissack, stepped up to run the company.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, McKissack Daniel took over the reins in 2000 and moved the company from Nashville, Tennessee to New York. Among the company’s outstanding New York projects are Coney Island Hospital, The New Terminal One at JFK, the World Trade Center Oculus, and many more.

“I’m thrilled to continue working toward implementing positive and impactful change within the building industry and the greater New York community as chair of the Building Foundation,” Ms. McKissack Daniel said upon accepting the position. “I look forward to using my experience working across the business and on MWBE issues, as well as my passion for philanthropy, to ensure the success of the organization.”

New York Building Foundation, the charitable arm of the New York Building Congress, is a nonprofit organization that promotes the long-term growth and well-being of the New York City building industry and the wider community.