50 Y E A R S O F WO M E N AT S EV E RN Reflecting upon her time there Sherie shared, “We'd had success on the field and in the classroom. My tenure was incredible there, but I knew there was a ceiling.” As if on cue, her mentor and champion McWilliams came calling with an opportunity to work alongside her at the CIAA. This role was critical in providing quality championship experiences and scholarship dollars to support twelve member institutions. At CIAA, Sherie cultivated an outstanding reputation as a leader in higher education athletics. Universities took notice and recruited her for various opportunities. When then president of Albany State University in Georgia came calling, seeking an athletics director, she knew it was the right move. During this incredible opportunity, she managed the merger of Albany State with Darton State College amidst resistance from certain stakeholder groups. “Leading through that kind of organization change gave me insight into strong leadership, change management, effective communication ... and how to stay true to who you are and your values ... my guiding light as a leader was to stay student-centered.” Sherie became a skilled coalition builder and made significant contributions to merging the cultures of these two institutions. “This was when I realized my calling was greater than athletics ... I wanted a larger role building community relationships and partnerships.” Sherie was soon recruited by the president of Humboldt State University in Northern California for the leadership role she'd been hoping for, chief of staff of the northernmost campus of the 23-school California State University system. Since joining Humboldt State two years ago, Sherie has served as a front-line leader in emergency management, strategic planning, and enhancing the university's relationships. Most recently while serving as interim CFO, she played a critical role garnering
support from the governor in HSU's vision to ascend to the 3rd polytechnic institution in the state, including work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. “We've had some tough discussions on campus around what this means for our students and our workforce, and our ability to show up as who we are every day. This includes bridge building, meeting people where they are, having hard conversations, and inviting people into the conversation.” Throughout all of these roles, Sherie has focused on serving every student and doing what's best for the organization. She also honors the role which mentors, champions, and dreams have played in her career. “Dream big; there are so many pathways to what people dream. Don't get caught up in anyone else's journey. Be present in your own journey. And remember, you are never alone. You have your Severn community and your Severn alumni network there to support you.” Upon graduation from Severn, Rupal Kharod '99 set out to study medicine. But she was uninspired by her freshman chemistry course at the University of Maryland, and the lack of a spark gave her pause. Unsure of where to go from there, she harkened back to Highley Thompson's 10th-grade World Literature course that introduced her to Paolo Coelho's Bildungsroman, "The Alchemist," in which the young protagonist is guided to realize his true self. She re-read the story and had an awakening. It wasn't the science of a career in medicine that appealed to her, “it was the helping people part.” From there, she spent her undergraduate years exploring literature and developing expertise in several languages. A chance run-in with former Severn faculty member Jeff Hardy inspired her to apply as a parttime linguist for the FBI. Discouraged by the long application process that extended through her years at law
school, Rupal pivoted to work as an attorney, an interpreter for the courts in D.C., a volunteer for The Foreclosure Project, and a court mediator for Anne Arundel County. But after watching a terrorist siege in Mumbai on TV as her parents flew, unaware, into the city, Rupal reapplied to the FBI. She was determined to wait out the process and use her language skills for the greater good. In 2011, Rupal began her career as an FBI intelligence analyst, working on every major terrorist attack since the Boston bombing and preventing countless others. She built a reputation as a technology and communications expert and expanded the scope of her work beyond counterterrorism to investigations in counterintelligence, cyber, violent crime, and child exploitation. After several years with the FBI, she took a position at Capital One leading their operations and intelligence team; her expertise was a perfect match. Staying current on emerging technical trends was a challenge, "but it was necessary to improve how we find the criminals planning terrorist attacks, selling state secrets, running blackmarkets for drugs and weapons, or preying on children. And it's the same skillset, coupled with my national security background, that helps me lead a team that was created to prevent the next massive cyber attack or data breach at Capital One. If I had stayed in law enforcement with U.S. Intelligence, I would have worked on investigations after a breach. Here, I get to work on preventing the next breach and finding those threat actors before they succeed.” Rupal also contributes to the national security mission through engagement in the nonprofit space, serving as a founding member and vice president of marketing and communication for the FBI Association of Intelligence Analysts (launching September 11, 2021.) Rupal's passion for doing good drives
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