Cynthia Gibson

"Cynthia Gibson has more than 26 years of experience in the nonprofit sector as a consultant and senior staff person for national nonprofits and philanthropic institutions. Currently, she is senior vice president at The Philanthropic Initiative, which provides philanthropic advising to a wide range of individuals, families, corporations, and foundations in the U.S. and internationally.  Previously, she was principal of Cynthesis Consulting, which specialized in public policy research and analysis, program development, strategic planning, evaluation, and marketing and communications for nonprofits and philanthropic institutions.  Clients included:  The Case Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Tufts University, Campus Compact, New York Cares, Mobilize.org, Goldman Sachs Foundation, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Academy for Educational Development, National Conference on Citizenship, the Ford Foundation, Center for Community Change, Kettering Foundation, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Chicago Council for Global Affairs, and others.

"In 2007 for the Case Foundation, Cynthia authored Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement and helped to develop a new approach to grantmaking reflecting the concepts in this paper—including the importance of public participation in philanthropy—that was highlighted in the New York Times and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Previously, she served as a program officer at Carnegie Corporation of New York in the area of Strengthening U.S. Democracy, developing and overseeing two subprograms in Strengthening the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector and Youth Civic Engagement.  As program officer, in 2003, Gibson was named one of the Nonprofit Times’ “Top 50 Power and Influence” in the nonprofit sector and authored two publications—From Inspiration to Participation:  Strategies for Youth Civic Engagement and The Civic Mission of Schools (co-authored with Peter Levine)—that became standards for the field, the basis of national advocacy campaigns, and catalysts for federal legislation for civic education.

"Prior to coming to Carnegie, Gibson served as a consultant for numerous organizations, among them, the Rockefeller Foundation, Open Society Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Planned Parenthood of New York City, Citizens Committee for Children, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Center for Policy Alternatives, and many others for which she conducted evaluations, strategic plans, research, and marketing/communications efforts.

"Earlier in her career, Gibson served in senior staff positions at the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, the Ms. Foundation for Women and the Partnership for Democracy (formerly The Youth Project). As an associate at People for the American Way, Gibson produced several videos with television producer Norman Lear and created the nation’s first videotape library on ultrafundamentalism that raised millions of dollars for the organization.

"In addition to speaking and publishing widely on nonprofit strategy, citizenship, education, philanthropy and social policy, Gibson has taught at the New School University’s Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy; serves as a senior fellow at Tufts University; and been a member of numerous advisory committees, selection panels and boards, including VolunteerMatch.org, Mobilize.org, Nonprofit Quarterly, Public Allies, Public Conversations Project, Idealist.org, and Whatgoesaround.org. Gibson has a B.A. in psychology from Pennsylvania State University (Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude); an M.S.W. from Catholic University of America; and a Ph.D. in social welfare policy and administration from Rutgers University.   Her dissertation focused on nonprofit advocacy, membership, and representation (“In Whose Interest:  Do National Nonprofit Advocacy Organizations Represent the Under-Represented?”)."

From 2007: "Right now, I'm doing all that under the auspices of my own consulting firm, Cynthesis Consulting, which specializes in public policy research and analysis, program development, strategic planning, marketing, and communications for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations across the country.

"Previously, I was a program officer for Carnegie Corporation of New York where I helped to develop and implement programs in "Strengthening the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector" (focused on enhancing the nonprofit sector's capacity-building and management infrastructure)and "Youth Civic Engagement" (focused on improving K-12 civic learning). Earlier, I was an independent consultant on nonprofit and philanthropy strategic planning, research, and communications for a variety of foundations and organizations, including: The Rockefeller Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation, Open Society Institute, Citizens Committee for Children of New York. There's a lot more, but too numerous to list here.

"Little-known fact: My first job was monitoring the ultrafundamentalist preachers (Falwell, Robertson, et.al.) for People for the American Way and summarizing any/all outlandish comments they made and then distribute these to the public. Those comments, all of which were taped, became grist for several videos I made with TV producer (and PFAW founder) Norman Lear that raised millions for the organization.

"I've also published and speak quite a lot about about nonprofit strategy, citizenship, education, philanthropy and social policy. Although I'm not technically an academic (more of a pracademic), I teach sometimes at the New School University’s Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy and currently am a a senior fellow at Tufts University. I'm also on the boards of Public Allies, Idealist.org, and the Center for Voting and Democracy.

"For those who care about these kinds of credentials, I have a B.A. in psychology from Pennsylvania State University (Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude); an M.S.W. from Catholic University of America; and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. My dissertation focused on nonprofit advocacy, membership, and representation (“In Whose Interest: Do National Nonprofit Advocacy Organizations Represent the Under-Represented?”)"


 * Director, Public Conversations Project