Sherley L. Spears

Sherley L. Spears is a founding member of M.A.N.O. She is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the state of Texas and will celebrate 20 years in the industry in 2024. Ms. Spears currently serves on the San Angelo Association of Realtors as a Board member.  She is the first and only Black owned Brokerage firm in the city of San Angelo.

She is the founder of a new historic memorial in the city that gives honor to the Black Regiments of the U. S. Army known as Buffalo Soldiers, scheduled for opening in July 2023.  As a community leader, Ms. Spears has served more than 60 years wherever she lived, helping to be the voice of those who needed assistance in leadership, fundraising, voter registration, social justice, organizational development, and community engagement primarily in the Black community. In San Angelo, Ms. Spears is the immediate past President of the San Angelo National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, where she served from 2019-2022, past Secretary, and currently serves as the Assistant Secretary, Vice Chair of Health and Chair of the Audit committee for the Texas NAACP State Conference.  She is a past board member of the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce, graduate of the Leadership San Angelo organization, and Chairs the Diversity Committee for the Chamber.  Along the way during her time in the city, she has served on various boards and committees representing the interest of the minority community.

• Ms. Spears holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Dallas Baptist University, and a Masters Certification in IT Software Development Project Management from George Washington University.  

• She spent more than 30 years in the telecommunications industry with increasing areas of responsibility, retiring in 2004 as a senior manager in Information Technology.

• She created a history development company that focuses on Black History of Black American accomplishments from the western part of Texas.  This organization publishes a periodic magazine providing important and often forgotten history.  

• She serves in various consulting roles throughout the state working in the areas of leadership development, project management and history.  

• She is a member of the Board of Directors of the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce, where she was honored in 2021 as “Chairman of the Year”, for her dedication and work in diversity, equity inclusion, and where she presented the resolution that was later approved to include Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a part of business policy throughout the business community.  She has chaired the Diversity Committee for several years where she has promoted training and business opportunities for Black owned and minority owned businesses and created the Business directory for Black Owned businesses in San Angelo.  On Tuesday, November 8, Ms. Spears will be honored by the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce Diversity Committee with the Community Impact Award for her work and influence with diversity in the city as a business leader.

• As a leader, Ms. Spears is a 2017 graduate of Leadership San Angelo, and continues to serve as a member of the Leadership San Angelo Alumni group.

• She is the Vice President of the Fort Concho Museum Board where she uses her place at the table to increase awareness of the Buffalo Soldier History at the fort.

• In 2020, she received a vision to create a memorial to honor the men of the 9th & 10th Cavalry and the 24th & 25th Infantry of the U.S. Army, which is recognized as original regiments of what has become known as the Buffalo Soldiers.  She is in the process of erecting the memorial where she has organized a diverse group of local leaders, internationally known authors and esteemed Buffalo Soldier living history presenters.  To date, the project has raised nearly $500K and has plans to launch the project by late spring or early summer 2023.    

• Ms. Spears is a member of the San Angelo Association of Realtors where she chairs the Education Committee and keeps a focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as part of the industry’s strategic plan and educational objectives.

• Recently, she was selected to head up the Central West Texas Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club, Inc., and has been involved with the founding of 3 other clubs in Texas and Louisiana- New Orleans, Austin and Waco.

• Her community advocacy has also involved leading a petition against the city to install restrooms at Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Park, and has recently secured over $250K so that the city could install restrooms.  The project will kick off in 2022.  

Ms. Spears is an advocate for social justice and works to ensure a place at the table in areas where Blacks and other minorities are disenfranchised in areas of health, voting rights, economic development and social justice.