Cindy earned her Bachelor’s and Masters Degrees from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She found her love in serving others while teaching nutrition education during an internship with children from migrant farm worker families. “I believe I learned more from the children then they learned from me.”

During her more than 20 year tenure with the Second Harvest Food Bank, she has experienced the overwhelming growth of the organization. She was the recipient of the 2004 Tribute to Women and Industry Award presented by YWCA in Santa Clara Valley.

She has held a range of leadership roles at the Food Bank. In her current role, she oversees the Programs and Services component of the Food Bank. She also works on areas of legislation and advocacy.

Over the years she has worked on welfare reform initiatives, disaster preparedness and relief efforts after the Loma Prita earthquake, issues impacting children, families, senior’s immigrant and refugee populations. She has also provided leadership in her work at the local, regional, state and national levels.

Her span also includes working with local, state and federal elected officials on issues impacting the lives of low-income communities. This has included partnering with Congressman Tom Campbell on the successful passage of federal legislation. Currently she has been working with Assembly Member Jim Beall who introduced AB433 to reduce barriers for low-income families to receive food stamps.