Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy

Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Ph.D., is president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the nation’s leading voice for educator preparation. She joined AACTE in 2025 after serving over eight years as the Distinguished Professor and Dean of the School of Education at American University in Washington, D.C.

At American University, Holcomb-McCoy transformed the School of Education into a nationally recognized stand-alone school, growing enrollment from 200 to over 1,500 students. She spearheaded the AU/DCPS Teacher Pipeline Project, launched the Advancing Early Education Collaborative with support from JP Morgan Chase, and positioned the school as a hub for equity-driven innovation in teacher and leadership/policy preparation.

Previously, Holcomb-McCoy held senior leadership roles at Johns Hopkins University, where she established the Johns Hopkins School Counseling Fellows Program and the Faculty Diversity Initiative, and at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she served as an associate professor of counseling and personnel services. She also directed the School Counseling Program at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

Holcomb-McCoy began her career as a kindergarten teacher before transitioning to roles as a school counselor and family therapist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and a master’s degree in school counseling from the University of Virginia, as well as a Ph.D. in counseling and educational development from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a Fellow of both the American Counseling Association and the Aspen Institute’s ASCEND program.

An acclaimed author, Holcomb-McCoy has written extensively on race, equity, and education. Her books include Antiracist Counseling in Schools and Communities, School Counseling to Close Opportunity Gaps, and the forthcoming Beyond the Doll Tests: Affirming and Uplifting Black Youth in Schools (Harvard Education Press). Her scholarship and leadership continue to shape national conversations about how schools can become more inclusive, just, and hopeful places for all children.