In 1998, she won an Emmy for hosting a show on caring for aging parents and in 1996, won two Emmy's for a special report on a camp for children with AIDS and for a segment of a program aimed at teenagers called Straight Talk N' Teens.

Recently, Cheryl was honored by the League of Women Voters of San Francisco. She was selected as one of six women who could be president of the United States.

In 2002, she received a national award from the American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT). Called the Gracie Allen Award, it honors "superior quality and stellar portrayal of the changing roles and concerns of women." The report for which she was honored, "Behind Bars: Battered Women Who Kill Their Abusers," was a profile of women serving life terms for killing their abusive partners before a law was passed that allowed evidence of "battered woman's syndrome."

Cheryl has also been honored for her news reporting during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. She was the first ABC7 reporter on the air with live, late-breaking news reports, as the aftershocks continued to rock the station.

She began her broadcasting career in 1974 at a San Francisco radio station. She worked as a reporter, anchor and a news director before moving to television. In 1980, her documentary on sexual harassment of women in the work force received an award of merit from the National Commission on the status of women.

Cheryl also helps in fund-raising for Camp Okizu, a program that sends children with cancer to summer camp. In addition, she helps with fund-raising for The Taylor Family Foundation in Livermore which provides camp for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Cheryl is active in community organizations. She is a long-time board member of the San Francisco Child Abuse Council, a member of the Trade Advisory Board of the Journalism Department at San Francisco City College. She works with the Tenderloin after-school program for children in San Francisco.

She is an honorary board member of LITA (Love Is The Answer), an organization in Novato which provides volunteer visitors for senior citizens in nursing and retirement homes. She is also an honorary board member of a program in Rohnert Park which serves children and families with AIDS, called Sunburst Projects. Cheryl also volunteers as a mentor for teens and young people.

Cheryl attended both San Francisco State University and City College, where she majored in broadcast communication and journalism.