Over her more than 30 years of professional life, Cynthia has become known for her leadership, creativity, and systems perspective in positions with nonprofit organizations, government agencies and public/private partnerships. What unites her work is the desire to protect and strengthen the resilience of our communities and natural world for current and future generations.
Cynthia has worked in the areas of sustainable food and agriculture, community development, water conservation, coastal restoration, transportation and air quality, alternative energy, environmental justice, climate resilience and impact investment. In these areas, her work has ranged from on the ground, community-based and regional projects to multidisciplinary university research, outreach and education initiatives to market-based policy development and advocacy. Her partners have included grassroots activists, community organizations, university researchers, students, business associations, foundations, regional, state, national and international NGOs, and government agencies.
Most recently, Cynthia was the founding executive director of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, a nonprofit organization that provides innovative financing and capacity-building assistance to farms and food businesses based in the Berkshire Taconic region service area covering Berkshire County, MA, Columbia and Dutchess Counties, NY and Litchfield County, CT.
Prior to this period, Cynthia held leadership positions with a national consulting firm; a regional watershed-based nonprofit; a 10-state network of land grant universities, national nonprofits, farmers, and government agencies; regional government; university research institutes; and international NGOs, among other civic and private entities.
Cynthia holds BA and MA degrees in Anthropology and an MA in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of California at Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in Science, the New York Times, and National Academy of Sciences publications, among other popular media and research publications. Cynthia is also a Fellow with the international Sustainability Leaders Network.
Cynthia lives with her family in West Stockbridge, MA. She enjoys hiking, ceramics, making sourdough bread, volunteering, and tending to her native pollinator garden.