Dr. Cynthia Hannah
Dr. Cynthia Hannah is an accomplished educational leader with more than 29 years of dedicated service in education under the Florida Retirement System (2000–2025). She currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University and as an Executive Director within the alternative education program at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where she focuses on dropout prevention, student engagement, and expanding pathways for academic success. Her career is rooted in a lifelong commitment to serving children and students across all stages of development, beginning with early work supporting children in need and those who had experienced abuse, which shaped her deep passion for ensuring that every student is supported, valued, and given the opportunity to succeed.
She has also served as an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University since 2014, teaching courses in educational leadership and ethical leadership. Her academic experience includes prior faculty appointments at the University of Florida and Florida Memorial University, where she contributed to the preparation and development of future educators and leaders. She also completed a fellowship through Columbia University Teachers College, further strengthening her expertise in educational leadership and systemic improvement.
Throughout her career, Dr. Hannah has served as a principal and district leader, consistently ensuring that both student needs and school operations are effectively supported, even in resource-challenged environments. She has worked across all grade levels—from early childhood through higher education—and is also a parent of three sons currently in college, giving her a deeply personal understanding of the educational journey from multiple perspectives. Known for her commitment to equity, service, and excellence, she is passionate about supporting educators and strengthening school communities. With her upcoming retirement from Miami-Dade County Public Schools in February, she plans to transition fully into higher education, returning to her first love of teaching and continuing her mission to develop and inspire future educational leaders.
• Certified in Elementary Education (2000)
• Certified in Educational Leadership (2009)
• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University - BS, Criminal Justice
• Florida International University - MPA
• Union Institute & University - PhD Educational Leadership
• Cahn Fellows Program
• Multiple STEAM School Designations (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• Principle of the Year Nominee
• Spotlight Leader for Excellence in Team Engagement
• Fellowship with Columbia University
• Links Incorporated
• Florida Association of School Administrators
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
• St. Thomas University
• State of Florida
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my mom - she kept me busy, just as I kept my three sons busy. She taught me that it's much more important to give than to receive, and it's much more important to help than to hurt. With those things in mind, you see things and you always like to walk into a situation and make it better than it was before you left. So that's my goal - to leave my blueprint or my footprint here, that whatever I touched and whatever I was involved in, it was better.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
A former principal who was my principal when I was a teacher told me to know how to leave gracefully. Know when the time is right, know when you've done all you can do and you're doing your best before you start kind of just losing your taste for things due to the political climate and everything else occurring. Know how to bow out gracefully. Also, know how to say no, because sometimes as educators, we tend to say yes before we understand what the decision of saying yes entails. We tend to say, oh, okay, sure, absolutely, yes, I'll do that, but in fact you don't know how it is competing with your schedule, it's conflicting with your schedule and other things you have. So just learning the importance of doing things and standing up for what is right, and just doing the right thing.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Go into it because you love it, and you want to make a child's or an adult's life better. Don't go into it looking for financial gain. Go into it and look for how you can make someone's life better and improve the life of a child or a young adult.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my field is trying to make all of the pieces work together. I need to make sure that the students understand the importance of academics, that the parents understand how this will impact them and the future of their child, and that teachers understand their importance as the instructors and as the second parent of these students. As a former principal, I work to ensure that all the needs of the students and the school building are being met, and addressing those when they're not. So it's a lot of moving pieces that when they are working together, it's beautiful music, but when they're not, it's really not the best situations for some. I'm trying to make sure that all the moving pieces are moving not only at the same time, but in the right direction.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty and integrity.