Sylvester Cleary - Area 3 Director

Sylvester Cleary is Area 3 Director for the New York State School Boards Association Board of Directors. As Area 3 Director, he represents school boards in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Steuben counties.

NYSSBA provides advocacy, training and information to school boards in support of their mission to govern the state’s public schools. The NYSSBA board establishes policies to supervise, control and direct the business of the Association.

For NYSSBA, Cleary services on the Awards and Recognition Committee, including the Edward R. Dyer Award for Distinguished School Board Service and Champions of Change. He previously served as a delegate on the Resolutions Committee as the NYS Caucus of Black School Board Members representative and the Board Liaison/NYS Caucus of Black Schools member on the DEI Committee.

Cleary is president of the Chautauqua County School Board Association, Immediate Past President of the NYS Caucus of Black School Board Members, and Chautauqua Co. I.D.E.A. Coalition Implementation Team. He is a board member for the Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES, where he is on the DEI Committee. Cleary is also currently on the Board of Directors and Vice President of the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation and on the relationship committee for the Cassadaga Job Corps. He is past president and vice president of the Forestville Central School and has served on the National School Board Advocacy Institute.

A resident of Forestville for the past 43 years, Cleary attended the University at Buffalo in the field of Psychology. He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and was granted top secret clearance while stationed at the Headquarters of the Marine Corps and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. He is a retired banker, who served on the Board of Directors establishing the first national diversity program for Fleet Bank.

In addition, Cleary served as Vice President of the National Association of Urban Bankers, Notary Public, member of the Jamestown New York Rotary Club, Board member for the Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation Improvement Corp of Dunkirk, Leadership Counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center, and a member of ASCAP (Authors, Songwriters, Composers, and Publishers) since 1972. He is an avid musician whose music has transcended generations with an album released in February 2019 entitled "Love Is the way."

Cleary obtained his Federal Communications license while working in the broadcast journalism field and hosted a syndicated program using his voice as the NYS Lottery spokesperson.

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