Shakari Byerly

Shakari Byerly is a Vice President with Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3) and joined the firm in 2007. Ms. Byerly has more than 13 years of experience in local and state policy-making and political strategy. At FM3, she specializes in the design, implementation, and analysis of quantitative and qualitative research to assist public, private, and non-profit sector clients, as well as candidate and ballot measure campaigns, in meeting their strategic objectives.

Ms. Byerly’s opinion research has encompassed a broad range of policy issues, including healthcare, education, development and land use, municipal and education finance, resident and consumer satisfaction, land, water and wildlife conservation, and political and electoral reform. Her expertise also includes the exploration of issues related to American political and social values. Since 2010, she has served as one of the lead researchers for Xavier University’s national study of public attitudes toward the American Dream and levels of civic literacy.

Ms. Byerly has served as a pollster for dozens of local school districts, government agencies private sector clients and non-profit organizations, including the City and County of San Francisco, the Oakland Unified School District, the California Endowment, AARP, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. She regularly conducts research on behalf of public sector clients seeking to secure additional revenue for local services and infrastructure improvements through voter approved ballot measures, with specific expertise working with municipalities throughout Northern California, the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada region. Ms. Byerly has also worked with candidates seeking local and statewide office across the country, including campaigns run in California, Utah, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

Prior to joining FM3, Ms. Byerly served as a Policy Analyst at the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, a non-partisan, non-profit research institute focused on political and electoral reform. She began her career as an educator in San Francisco public schools and has also worked as a consultant for the Los Angeles Board of Education, the California Democratic Party, and several members of the California State Legislature.

Ms. Byerly is currently a Fellow with the Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California (USC) and a faculty member of the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute. She also serves on the Advisory Council of the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee (SFWPC), and is a former Board Member of California Common Cause.

Ms. Byerly received a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and a Bachelor’s degree, Cum Laude, in Government from Dartmouth College.

Ms. Byerly can be reached in the Oakland office at (510) 451-9521 or shakari@fm3research.com.