Cindy Pineda

Cindy Pineda (she/her) is a mission-driven educator who has dedicated her life to youth development, fighting social injustices and closing the achievement gap. She cares deeply about future generations and seeks to leave a legacy through everything she does. She currently works as the Director of Pathways designing and developing strategic programming around youth advocacy and leadership, college, career and post-secondary success.
Upon earning her bachelor’s from the UC Berkeley, Cindy moved to Washington DC where she worked on education policy reform, non-profit management, and data analysis to ensure undocumented populations were counted in the US Census without them fearing repercussions. Her devotion for social change and multicultural exposure led her to develop and lead various educational cross-sector projects in Columbia and El Salvador. Those projects focused on empowering local leaders by collaborating with youth and coming up with solutions and practices on activating their communities to tackle issues that. While working on her masters in International Education at NYU, Cindy witnessed the lack of diversity in the world of academia and the various students of color who were struggling in their first years. She continued her career in higher education at NYU, where she focused on providing civic engagement opportunities to college students, building college access curriculum for highs school students, partnering community outreach programs with the university and NYC public schools, and designing first-year college programs focused around persistence for first gen students of color. After 13 years in the east coast, Cindy has returned to her hometown of Los Angeles. She is an avid world traveler that loves trying new foods and learning about different perspectives and cultures. When not working, you can find Cindy on a hiking trail, roller blading on the beach, riding her bike around LA, or trying to find the best taco spot with family and friends.