Chairman, Michael E. Cryor

Michael E. Cryor is Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party. Currently, the only African American to head a state Democratic or Republican Party in the 50 states, he was elected to lead the state party during and through the 2008 Presidential race. He is respected in national Democratic circles and has been active in local, state and national arenas.

In the corporate world, he heads The Cryor Group, LLC, a strategic communications consulting firm located in Baltimore, Maryland and has more than 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. A communications advisor to some of the nation’s leading corporate and non-profit organizations, he specializes in urban policy, health care and technology-based initiatives. Increasingly, his counsel is sought on complex urban initiatives. His clients and projects have included AT&T, IBM, the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine, Johnson Controls, The Baltimore City School System, The International Oncology Network, The Forest City Science and Technology Group, CareFirst, Magna Entertainment, Colliers Pinkard and numerous state and local governments. 

Prior to forming the Cryor Group, he served as the Executive Vice President of Susan Davis International, a well-known public affairs firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., representing Fortune 500 companies and a broad range of policy initiatives.

In addition, he was also a well-known on-air television personality, hosting one of Baltimore’s longest running public affairs programs. For nearly ten years he co-hosted WJZ-TV’s On Time, a talk show devoted to in-depth discussions of urban and related issues.

Much earlier in his career, he was a psychologist and a Director of the Department of Consultation and Education at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, New York, an affiliate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

In addition to his position as the Chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party, Mr. Cryor's current and past affiliations include Chairman of the Board of the Associated Black Charities of Maryland, Co-Chairman of the Baltimore Believe Campaign, The Hippodrome Foundation, The Baltimore Community Foundation, The Enoch Pratt Free Library, The Constellation Foundation, The Baltimore Museum of Art, the Afro American Newspapers, the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Sturdivant & Co., a New Jersey-based financial investment company.

Mr. Cryor earned his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Psychology from Morgan State University and Montclair State University, respectively.

He and his wife, Erica, the Director of Development at Morgan State University, are proud residents of Baltimore City and have one daughter, Maisha, a lawyer assigned to international trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.