RETIRED — Sherilyn Wright, senior executive assistant to the international president, retired April 1, capping a four-decade career that took her from meter reader in Denver to the executive offices of the IBEW and the halls of Congress.
“Her accomplishments are vast, but what she’ll be known for most is her compassion and support for the membership,” said International President Kenneth W. Cooper. “Anyone who knows Sherilyn knows that if you need her help, she’ll be there in spades.”
Wright assumed the role of executive assistant to the president when her predecessor, Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, stepped down. Shuler first met Wright when she worked as a business representative for Local 111 in Denver.
“Her intellect, selfless approach to leadership and sense of humor stood out, and her talents were a natural fit for [IBEW leadership],” said Shuler, who is a member of Portland, Ore., Local 125. “It was a joy to watch her rise through the ranks and see her influence grow within our union.”
Wright wasn’t initially active in Local 111 when she joined in 1983. But when the company, the Public Service Co. of Colorado, tried to break the union and started firing people, she couldn’t just stand by. It took two years of fighting, but the local eventually won and got everybody’s job back.
“That’s what got me started,” Wright recalled. “I remember my friend coming back and saying I should quit as a steward because I could get fired, but I said: ‘Absolutely not. You don’t mess with my family.’”
Wright was hired as a business representative in 1999. She also served on the local’s Human Rights Committee. In 2000, she took on the role of political coordinator, helping labor-friendly candidates win the Colorado Senate for the first time in nearly four decades. It was then that she discovered her love of politics.
“I didn’t like politics until I got involved in that campaign,” Wright said. “That’s when we started working with all the other unions, and we were successful in what we tried to do.”
“Her accomplishments are vast, but what she’ll be known for most is her compassion and support for the membership.”
– International President Kenneth W. Cooper
Wright’s political success in her home state led to her appointment in 2005 as international representative in the Government Affairs Department, then known as Political and Legislative Affairs. In that role, she lobbied legislators on Capitol Hill and oversaw the IBEW’s grassroots campaign that helped put a labor-friendly administration in the White House.
“I didn’t fully realize before I got involved in politics that there’s so much we don’t know that affects us in the workplace … and I loved getting people elected that represented our values,” Wright said.
Wright was able to transition her political skills into a set that served her well in her role as executive assistant to three international presidents.
“Sherilyn was always very reliable. I couldn’t have made a lot of the decisions that I did without her input,” said former International President Lonnie R. Stephenson. “I can’t say enough about her and her commitment to the IBEW.”
Reflecting on her tenure with the IBEW, Wright said it’s amazing to think of all she’s been able to do, from meeting presidents to traveling to Cuba and China, to going to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, among countless other highlights.
“I’ve always thought that there’s more opportunity in the IBEW than at any corporation,” she said. “As women, we tend to doubt ourselves, but people aren’t trying to bring you along and promote you because they want you to fail. It’s because they believe in you. So if someone asks you to step up, do it.”
One moment that stands out for Wright is when she received the Electrical Workers Minority Caucus’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.
“My first EWMC was where I saw that I really did belong in the IBEW on a larger level. That’s when it felt like home,” said Wright, who served on the EWMC board when she was with Local 111. “I don’t know if there’s anything more special I could have been given.”
The award is a testament to her full body of work for the labor movement, said EWMC President Emeritus Robbie Sparks.
“She’s contributed so much to organized labor,” Sparks said. “She never said, ‘Give me.” It was always ‘Open the door and I’ll get it done.’”
Wright is also someone who never forgot where she came from, Sparks noted.
“Still water runs deep with Sherilyn. She gets things done quietly. She has a very special spirit,” Sparks said. “You don’t run into people like her often.”
For Wright, the people and the problem solving are what she’ll miss the most.
“I think my favorite part of this job is, when an issue comes up, figuring out, how do we solve it? Who do we get plugged in? Which people can we connect? And just seeing how we can make a difference,” she said.
Wright said she doesn’t have any set plans for retirement yet, but she takes solace in knowing that she has IBEW siblings all over that she can rely on.
“Just knowing you can travel anywhere and you’ll have family there if something should come up is a great thing about the IBEW,” she said.
It’s a sentiment that goes both ways, Sparks said.
“I can’t put into words how much she’s meant to me. She’s like one of my children,” Sparks said.
On behalf of the officers, members and staff, we wish Sister Wright all the best and for a long and healthy retirement.
