Her Story
About Cynthia
My journey in public sector communications and community outreach has spanned 19 years and has truly shaped who I am as a leader. It has given me wisdom to understand different leadership styles and to be empathetic and sympathetic when people are not going through the best moments of their life. Empowering women has been one of the primary key factors of my leadership - empowering my fellow women to become a legacy in their specialty, in their departments, or in their community, ensuring we continue to have great women leaders making decisions for years to come that impact the public sector. While a lot of sacrifice has been made throughout the journey, the most rewarding and meaningful part has been the leadership experience. I originally wanted to work for the FBI with my criminal justice degree, then become a criminal defense attorney assisting juveniles and doing juvenile defense, with the goal of opening my own non-profit to ensure juveniles exiting the justice system become productive citizens. But that didn't happen - instead, I applied for the communications manager job at the Lake County State's Attorney's Office between 2012 and 2013. I had no experience, but I got the job and stepped in with no media or marketing experience, just community outreach and grassroots marketing under my belt. That opportunity shaped me into the communicator I am today. I learned and transformed alongside different trends and digital improvements, watching how journalism changed and how digital media and social service platforms changed the way media reports to the public. Being part of that digital change, coming in from old grassroots, boots-on-the-ground marketing into newer digital platforms and digital marketing, was really a transformation in my career because I had to step in and adapt to the change. I did victim advocacy and community outreach work, then worked with the City of Highland Park where I developed their resiliency program following the horrific mass violence shooting in 2022. I was hired to develop the mental health program and communication strategies to assist those directly impacted by the shooting, working alongside the U.S. Department of Justice and other communities nationwide to implement strategies that would benefit the community. Now I'm the Communications and Community Engagement Manager for the City of Evanston, where we've accomplished so much. The Welcoming City Ordinance with the mayor was a big accomplishment. Working with our media counterparts and friends to ensure public trust was stronger is one of my duties, and I continue supporting our staff in all the different initiatives and programs the City of Evanston offers to their community.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cynthia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my determination and my son. Those two things have been the driving forces behind everything I've accomplished in my career.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I have ever received is to always lead with being humble. Always look at the facts of a situation before making a determination on anything. And always make sure that you have the best interest of others in the community in mind. I think those have helped me become successful.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The best advice I could give women entering our industry is about pushing through. This is one of the more competitive and challenging areas of public service right now, especially because of AI - we don't know where that's taking us, and it feels like it's kind of taking over. With all of the unknowns that this career can bring, I would say don't allow that to determine the decisions that you're going to make moving forward in your career. Always follow your heart, follow your interests, follow your passion for educating your community, and I think that'll be the best driver to success.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's an opportunity to learn every day. We have to keep up with all of the new social media platforms that are rising up and up and coming. There's always an opportunity to learn, there's always an opportunity to stay up-to-date on the different changes that we have to address, so don't ever shy away from the learning part. The challenges are that this is a very competitive field, and jobs are scarce nowadays when it comes to communications and marketing. It's a very difficult job to obtain because corporations and government sectors are looking for extreme experience, given public reaction to some things. We have to ensure that we know the language, we know our audience. It's very important to understand that those are only challenges, and it's all a part of learning. The key is to stay on task, stay on track to overcome those challenges.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The first value that's most important to me is credibility. In my field, credibility is very important - you have to be credible, you have to know your facts. My integrity is also very important to me. My family orientation, both in my personal and my professional life, is crucial. It's very important to understand that at the end of the day, in the government field, we're not just government officials, we're also human beings that have families, and things happen, so just being sensitive to that is very important to me. Ethics and honesty are my core values.
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