Cheryl D. Miller

Cheryl D. Miller is a designer, author, and theologian who is best known for her diversity, equity, and inclusion advocacy for Black graphic designers in the industry and marketplace. Miller holds a Master of Science degree in communications design from Pratt Institute and received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, with Foundation Studies completed at the Rhode Island School of Design. She also holds a Masters of Divinity degree from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. An accomplished, award winning designer and businesswoman, Miller established one of the first black women-owned design firms in New York City in 1984. Cheryl D. Miller Design Inc. serviced corporate communications to a Fortune 500 clientele, including BET, Chase, American Express, and Time Inc., Sports Illustrated; social impact corporate communications defining the Civil Rights Era. Miller’s influential article, “Black Designers Missing in Action,” was published in 1987, followed by “Embracing Cultural Diversity in Design” in 1990, “Black Designers: Still Missing In Action?” in 2016, and “Black Designers Forward In Action” in 2020. Miller also wrote a memoir, Black Coral: A Daughter’s Apology to her Asian Island Mother (2013). Her personal work and archives were acquired by Stanford University Libraries, The Cheryl D. Miller Collection at Stanford University. She is further curating with Stanford Libraries and design colleagues, The History of Black Graphic Design in North America-an open source database.