Cynthia L. James

Cynthia L. James is currently the President & CEO at YouthPlaces. Cynthia has held this position since October 2012. Prior to that, they were the Executive Director at Community Bridges, Incorporated from January 2016 to October 2012. In their role as Executive Director, Cynthia facilitated, developed and executed a plan for stabilizing an closing organization with 100K deficit in first 18 months of employment. Cynthia also created recruitment and retention strategies to expand board members, oversaw the development and implementation of an annual staff and organization-wide goal setting and action strategy, and implemented and oversaw the talent acquisition and retention strategies for the teams of CB. In addition, Cynthia developed a cost-savings plan that reduced expenses and increased revenue for the organization.

When it comes to fundraising, Cynthia has developed diversified fundraising plans to pursue a variety of funding sources for the organization resulting in a 60% increase of budget in years 1 & 2 and a positive net balance at the end of each fiscal year. Cynthia has also established consistent and clear transformative relationships with current and past funders to ensure continued investment support, increased individual giving by 60% over the course of the first 18 months of employment, prospected, engaged and wrote all grants for organization over the last three years, and wrote, developed and oversaw the execution of a new program impact model enabling us to serve teens over a 9 year period, versus 9 month periods during the school year.

In terms of strategic partnerships, Cynthia has worked closely with local government officials to enhance financial and other support, thereby increasing county investment by 200%. Cynthia has also worked closely with schools

Cynthia L. James holds a Master of Science in Business and Leadership from DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY OF THE HOLY GHOST. Cynthia is certified in Becoming a Non Profit CEO from the University of Pittsburgh. Cynthia also holds a B.A. in Political Science/ Pre-Law from PennWest California.

Some direct reports include Weston White - Director of Leadership & Engagement, Jane Lee - Director of Education, and Uwe Calloway - Chief Operations Officer.