Positivity is one of Cynthia’s top strengths in StrengthsFinder, and it emerges in everything she does. As a Senior Community and Stakeholder Engagement Associate at Joining Vision and Action, Cynthia has used her superb relationship-building skills and understanding of human psychology to facilitate important and sometimes challenging conversations among diverse populations, including people who are unhoused, government officials, community leaders and others.
Cynthia provides a warm, welcoming presence that helps ensure that all voices are heard, and she leads engagement in a way that honors the perspective of everyone in the room. She is also consistently eager to learn and practice new skills that support her work to further empower underserved populations.
Ms. Lizano was a consultant who was tasked with reaching out to the underserved communities of Denver to determine how we can best provide internet access. She did an amazing job with community outreach to homeless, elderly and impoverished groups to ensure that their voices were included. Cynthia also worked tirelessly to create the final version of the Equity Plan.
I got to know Cynthia over the 10 years that I was the Director of Volunteer Programs and Product at The Action Center. She is a seasoned professional. Her strengths go far beyond her professional expertise. She stands above her peers with her passion to engage every person in building a strong community by helping them find ways to each contribute. Her determination and commitment to make the needed changes to break the cycle of generational poverty shine through in everything she does. She is persuasive and simply unstoppable.
Cynthia’s optimism and good nature makes every interaction with her a fun exercise. I have known her for several decades and her skill at resolving conflict and bringing diverse voices together is incredible. She’s equally comfortable with the immigrant community, the homeless , the drug dependent or the board member , C suite executives or wealthy donors. Her passion to engage community and make a sustainable change informs her life every day. It’s rare to find some one who is as passionate about helping , community and who walks the talk …
She was loved and respected by everyone: the kids, their parents and the school teacher. It was a big loss for our organization when she had to leave the country. But even from far away, she still helps us with her great ideas and advice, so we are still able to take advantage of her incredible organizational skills which we appreciate a lot.
Cynthia has done great work here as manager of our education program, and we wish her luck in both her personal and professional life.
I have seen Cynthia in action as the family engagement Liaison working with Eiber Elementary families. She is the person makes everything work well..
I have been honored to watch the work of Cynthia Saunders for the past 3 years as she led efforts to support students, families and the staff at one of the most impacted Title I Elementary Schools in the Jefferson, County, Colorado schools. Cynthia has distinguished herself as an enthusiastic positive leader, an unrivaled hard worker and a reliable long term investment.
Cynthia built partnerships with folks from the community at her school and through the sheer power of her positive spirit secured their investment and partnership. This is more than just raw enthusiasm, this is leadership vision that compels collaboration and leads change.
As I mentioned Cynthia has worked at a challenging underserved neighborhood school...just that fact alone signifies resilience and tenacity. But Cynthia goes beyond that to give attention to details and personalities most would lose patience for. She is highly regarded among the leadership of school district and this spirit of reliable day-in and day-out hard work stands out to me.
Finally, Cynthia is dependable. If I were able to reproduce her stick-to-itiveness dozens of times over then we could transform the entire city for good in 1 year!
