Vilicia Cade
Dr. Vilicia Cade-Lyles is a visionary, vanguard, and venerated leader who uplifts humanity, safeguards excellence through equity, and advances bold innovation to improve outcomes. With over 35 years of experience in K-12 public education, higher education, and the nonprofit sector, she is nationally recognized for strengthening student achievement and forging interagency partnerships that address the holistic needs of children and adults.
From 2023-2025, Vilicia served as a Presidentially appointed Commissioner with President Biden’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Excellence, Equity, and Economic Opportunities for Black Americans. She contributed to national recommendations spanning early childhood education through entrepreneurship.
A trailblazer, she served as the first Black woman in several executive roles, including President and CEO of Child Guidance Resource Centers (CGRC), CEO and Superintendent of the Capital School District in Delaware, and Chief Academic Officer of Sandusky City Schools. At CGRC, she strengthened transparency, advanced legislative relationships, and streamlined operations during a fiscally challenging era in the organization’s 70-year history. In Delaware, she secured $6.9 million from Verizon to establish the state’s only Verizon Innovative Learning Schools, guided the district into the League of Innovative Schools, celebrated a National Blue Ribbon Award for North Dover Elementary, and oversaw the $113 million construction of Dover Middle Schools-delivered on time and on budget despite pandemic disruptions.
Her leadership began in the classroom and expanded through reform efforts in New York City and Chicago, where she led innovation under the Excelerator Schools initiative, increasing access to advanced placement and college-level opportunities for low-income and minority students.
In 2025, she relaunched her consulting firm, Sankofa Solutions of Love, Inc., and partnered with CGRC and most recently the Center for Integrated Training and Education to expand affordable doctoral programs for educators in the mid-Atlantic.
Nationally, Vilicia has been a National Policy Fellow at Cleveland State University, and an advisor to the League of Innovative Schools. A benevolent giver, she contributes generously and actively serves on numerous boards, including United Way of Delaware, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Bayhealth Foundation, and SUNY New Paltz Foundation Board.
An award-winning advocate, celebrated author (If Not for Love), and sought-after speaker, Vilicia has been honored with the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Centennial Dove Award, Governor’s Compassionate Champion Award, and NAACP Education Advocacy Award.
A proud first-generation college graduate, she holds degrees from SUNY New Paltz and New York University. Above all, she treasures her role as mother and wife.