Cindy has spent most of her professional career in the field of youth engagement and empowerment. She started out as a Program Instructor for the Close Up Foundation where she led weekly instructional workshops with middle and high school students from all over the country to help increase their civic knowledge and political efficacy. She then spent three years working on the No Kid Hungry campaign managing a college internship program before landing at National Geographic, where she currently supports programming for young people ages 13-25. Cindy is a former Powers-Knapp scholar with a B.S. in Botany and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has two cats and they are her entire personality.