Sheila McCants is a native Floridian raised in Clearwater, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology and a certificate in Behavioral Technology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her master’s degree in Counseling from the University of South Florida.

During her 25+ year career she has developed and implemented services and programs geared toward student development and established innovative career centers with programs that assist students in discovering and planning career pathways.  Sheila has facilitated student leadership workshops and presented professional development workshops on the state and national levels. She developed an advising curriculum that taught self-advocacy skills, personal management and critical thinking while assisting students in planning their educational goals.

Ms. McCants has served as Enrollment Development Coordinator where she planned and implemented targeted strategies to build enrollment at Hillsborough Community College. During her tenure, the campus enjoyed broadened recognition in the community and increased enrollment percentages. When she moved to her role as Student Services Manager, she streamlined testing services, expanded services in the Career Center and established a speakers’ bureau with campus faculty to serve local organizations and develop relationships with the community.

Ms. McCants serves as the institutional coordinator for the Dreamkeepers Emergency Award fund which assists students with emergency funding for unforeseen emergencies and is also the program coordinator for HCC LIFE (Linking in Fellowship and Education) which develops relationships with the faith community in order to provide information and access to higher education.

In her role as HCC District Manager for Diversity and Special Programs, she was responsible for managing the Black Brown & College Bound National Summit, chairing the college-wide Diversity Council, planning and facilitating college-wide diversity programming and giving leadership and oversight to the Collegiate 100 Leadership program and HOPE Scholars program.

Ms. McCants currently serves as Director of TRIO for all five HCC campuses.  During her tenure, she has enhanced the brand of TRIO, instituted a student professional development series, established programs to recognize and celebrate student accomplishments, invested in staff through training and has been named to the Florida TRIO Board of Directors.  She is an advocate for those without voice and helps students learn to advocate for themselves.

SM Consulting is her most recent personal venture. As a consultant, she helps organizations with diversity and inclusion, multigenerational relationships, and leadership training for youth and college students and career building. As a certified life coach, she helps people design a life after disruption using her certified expertise in Myers-Briggs, Strong, Emotional Intelligence and her background in counseling.

Ms. McCants is a member of First Baptist Church College Hill where she works as a member of the youth Sunday School team and a ministry designed to disciple new believers. She is also a proud and active member of the Gamma Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is aunt to Edie, AJ and Emberly.

Sheila McCants is an asset and a Community Champion. She was nominated as a City of Tampa Black History Committee Community Honoree of Distinction because of her positive impact and leadership ability in the field of education.