Cheryl Najafi is an artist-activist, entrepreneur, and author dedicated to creating a safer world for future generations. She unites communities through creative expression, transforming awareness into action.
In 2010, Najafi founded EverydayDishes.com, a recipe site for busy working moms, and later established The Cause Collection, a purpose-driven clothing company that supported nonprofits fighting for equality and social justice. As Founding Artist and Creative Director of the Butterfly Art Collective, she now channels her vision into the Resilience butterfly project, an initiative centered on the creation of 25 pairs of 5’ soft resin butterfly sculptures, each uniquely designed in response to the 25 deadliest mass shootings in the United States.
This when-art-meets-advocacy effort aims to raise funds and foster dialogue for gun safety education and sensible reform across the country. Cheryl is a signer and active with The Giving Pledge, currently serves on the Barrow Neurological Foundation Board and was appointed by President Biden to serve on the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the Kennedy Center. She has tenure on President Crow's New American Council for Arts and Design at Arizona State University, Charter 100; ASU Art Museum Creative Impact Board; among others.
Najafi holds a B.A. (‘92) and an M.A. (‘96) in Communication from Arizona State University. She has received several awards including Arizona’s Most Intriguing Women for its Centennial Celebration as the 48th state, and ASU’s 2019 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Leader, among others.
