Cheri Renfroe Yousem
Board of Directors
Cheri R. Yousem is a philanthropist, community leader, real estate investor and mountain climber who has served on Didi Hirsch’s Board of Directors since 1996.
The mother of two sons, Jordan and Joshua, Yousem left a career as a litigation paralegal for O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles to work in development and fundraising for her children’s schools, her synagogue, the arts and neighborhood childhood enrichment programs.
Yousem has served in a number of leadership positions for Didi Hirsch over the years, including Board Chair from 2004-2006, chair of the agency’s “Erasing the Stigma” Leadership Awards in 1998 and co-chair of the event in 2008 and 2009.
She is a Past President of the United Hostesses’ Charities, which supports Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s heart programs, a docent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a volunteer for the Literally Healing Program at Children’s Hospital – Los Angeles. She also served as Chair of the Human Relations Commission for Beverly Hills, where she is a resident.
Yousem’s world adventures include trekking mountain gorillas in Uganda, interning at an orangutan camp in Borneo, and climbing mountains in the United States, Africa, Japan, Nepal, Russia, Argentina, Peru, Bhutan and Tibet.
Yousem attended UCLA and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Long Beach. She also received a Master’s degree in Art History from California State University, Northridge.