Cheryl McKissack Daniel

Cheryl McKissack Daniel is the President of McKissack & McKissack, the oldest minority-owned construction and design firm in the United States. A civil engineer, she has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of the design and construction industry, including major project work in the commercial, healthcare, education and transportation sectors. She is actively involved in project oversight and management, ensuring that diversity is implemented during each phase of a project or program.

Under McKissack Daniel's leadership, the firm is responsible for $50 billion worth of architectural projects, including the reimagining of Terminal One at JFK International Airport, the LaGuardia Airport central terminal building redevelopment and the Coney Island Hospital campus renovation.

McKissack Daniel comes from a long line of architects and builders that began with an enslaved Ashanti ancestor in 1790. The firm was founded in 1905 in Nashville, Tennessee, by her grandfather Moses McKissack III and his brother Calvin, the first black licensed architects in America. She represents the fifth generation of the McKissack family’s century-old business.

McKissack Daniel serves on numerous, corporate, charitable and community boards. She has been honored as a “Hero of Liberty” for her support of humanitarian initiatives and for promoting the responsibilities of a free and diverse America. She is the recipient of a Legacy Award from Women’s Builders Council, and has been named to City and State New York’s Power 50 and Forbes 50 Over 50 Lists.

McKissack Daniel earned both her bachelor's and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Howard University.