Sherelle began her journey with the Federal Service in 1968 as a ZMT Distribution Clerk with U.S. Post Office at the Brooklyn Cadman Plaza General Post Office (GPO). While working there in 1972, she attended a recruitment seminar conducted by representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Eastern Region Office.  After completing the FAA’s employment requirements, she was hired as a candidate for the ATCS 150-Program an outreach initiative to hire 150 minorities and women into the agency from across the country with zero aviation knowledge and who had at least three years of work experience as a Federal Service employee.

During the course of her 39 years with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Mrs. Carper has held several distinguished “first” positions.  She holds the distinction of being the first African American woman: Air Traffic Control Specialist for the New York metropolitan area; First Line Supervisor at Morristown Tower, Morristown, NJ, Air Traffic Manager at Trenton Tower, Trenton, NJ; Manager for Training Philadelphia ATCT, Philadelphia International Airport; and was eventually promoted as the first African American woman Level Five Air Traffic Manager in the Eastern Region and Branch Manager in the ATO in headquarters.  She retired on September 30, 2007 after working at Dulles Tower for more than twelve years. During her tenure in the FAA, Sherelle found it was necessary to join the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees in 1976 to take on causes impacting minorities and women.  She has held positions on every level of the organization including the Regional President of the former Eastern Region which she was instrumental in renaming to the Northeast Region.