Cynthia Overton

Cynthia Overton, Ph.D is the Senior Director of Tech Workplace Initiatives at the Kapor Center, where she builds community and provides learning opportunities for professionals advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tech industry. In this role, she leads Diversity Advocates, a professional learning community dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce throughout the tech industry. She also operates their Collective, a group of tech professionals working to advance inclusion for Black and Latinx talent through employee resource groups. In addition, Cynthia serves as co-principal investigator for a research study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and led by Quality Education for Minorities Network that seeks to expand the evidence-based understanding of HBCU STEM learning environments in which undergraduate students are most likely to thrive and subsequently go on to attain doctoral degrees in science and engineering.

Prior to joining the Kapor Center, Cynthia worked for 13 years at a behavioral and social sciences research firm leading initiatives that enhance opportunities for underrepresented populations. This included helping to launch and sustain corporate-wide diversity and inclusive efforts. Cynthia also has a long history of working on federally funded projects that aim to improve outcomes for people with disabilities.

Cynthia holds a B.A. from Hampton University, an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in learning technologies, and a masters degree in P.R./corporate communications from Georgetown University. She also completed the Diversity and Inclusion certificate program through Cornell University and the assistive technology applications certificate program offered by California State University, Northridge Center on Disabilities.