Our BOARD

Cindy Pineda is a mission-driven educator with over 10 years of experience 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. Hailing from the sunny city of Los Angeles, she attended the University of California Berkeley, where she received her Bachelors’ in Psychology with a minor in Public Policy. Upon graduation, Cindy interned in Washington DC, working on educational policy reform on Capitol Hill. While in Washington, she moved on to work as an Academic Advisor for a non-profit organization called Upward Bound, chaired the Policy Committee for the District of Colombia of Consolidated Services and worked for the US Census Bureau. Her interest in international education came after she worked on and led various Latin American education development projects in Colombia and El Salvador. Being a huge advocate for social change and multicultural exposure, Cindy was devoted to bring students of all backgrounds together to share their stories and experience the world from different perspectives. This interest led her to pursue a Master’s in International Education with a focus on development at New Yok University. While at NYU, she continued her career as the Assistant Director of the Field Projects office. There, she managed the daily operations of all civic engagement, college preparation and community outreach programs with NYC public schools, and designed first-year college programs. At BUILD, Cindy has spent the last 4 years instilling and developing entrepreneurial lessons to a budding group of students in NYC communities. Her innovative ideas and program design have been instrumental in improving the student experience. She serves as an imputation to the first graduating class to become the best they can be, add value to others lives and explore the world as evidence by lessons learned in her travel of over 30 countries. Cindy is obsessed with tacos and french-fries., and loves to try new foods wherever she goes. On her free time, Cindy likes to work out, do yoga, run, cook, show off her dancing skills or just sit at a park on a sunny day and read a good book.