Prior to joining CDP, Sherief lived in Egypt, working with communities engaged in self-help urbanism and social justice in the wake of the 2011 revolution. Sherief is a co-founder of the Mosireen media collective, and a collective member emeritus at the Austin Yellow Bike Project. He graduated from the University of Texas with a J.D. and an M.S. in Community and Regional Planning, and received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. In his spare time, Sherief drinks coffee.