Cynthia Guyer Joins Global Dignity As Executive Director

NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Global Dignity announced the hiring of Cynthia Guyer as the organization's first Executive Director. The announcement follows a six-month international search. Simultaneously, Global Dignity is opening a global headquarters in New York City. Global Dignity was founded in 2006 by HKH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, John Hope Bryant, Founder and CEO of Operation HOPE and Pekka Himanen, a renowned philosopher from Finland.

Board Chairman John Osborn, who is also CEO of advertising agency BBDO in New York, stated, "Cynthia has vast experience in scaling non-for-profit organizations and in deepening the impact and reach of similar causes. Her energy, passion, creativity and commitment will serve us well as we continue to spread the message and practices of dignity across the globe."

Before joining Global Dignity, Cynthia Guyer was the founding Executive Director of the Portland Schools Foundation in Oregon,1996 to 2007. Over her tenure, she worked with the Board to organize and win six successive campaigns that together raised over $800 million in public funding for City and County public schools. Under her leadership, Cynthia raised $60 million in private funding for a number of initiatives that helped teachers, school leaders and parents improve and strengthen the quality of education in their local schools, especially in Portland's highest-poverty and most diverse neighborhoods.

The New Vision Challenge Grants invested in school leadership teams over two to three years, to strengthen both teaching and learning. Data showed that New Vision Challenge Schools made dramatic increases in student learning and achievement. Parent, Family and Community Involvement Grants strengthened parent and family engagement in Portland's low-income school communities and invested in innovative school wide partnerships with universities, businesses and nonprofit partners. Cynthia also worked alongside a group of high school student leaders who launched the Arts Alive Fund to support music and art in the City's public schools, working with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and other West Coast artists. Cynthia was hired in 1996 with one initial grant to the Foundation of $50,000. Eleven years later, she left an organization with an annual budget of $10 Million and a staff team of ten.

In 2011, Cynthia was recruited from the West Coast to be the first Director of External Affairs for one of the newest and most creative cultural spaces in New York City. The Rubin Museum of Art, founded in 2004, has a staff of 90 and an annual budget of $15 million. Working with the Executive Director and the Board, Cynthia led the development of the Museum's first Strategic Vision and Plan, and recruited nine new members to the Board of Trustees. Under her leadership, fundraising increased 60% and the Museum established a permanent endowment of $120 million.

HKH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Founder, Ex-Officio Board Member and Special Advisor to Global Dignity, stated, "Cynthia embodies our core values of dignity. Her energy, drive and strategic ability will serve us well as we continue to expand and accelerate this important movement."

Global Dignity, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization founded in 2006, works to strengthen dignity- centered leadership in over 70 countries around the world. The organization is focused on engaging young people in understanding the values and principles behind what "dignity" means and aims to inspire the next generation to make change in their own communities – and on the major challenges of our time. Over 500,000 young people from around the world participated in Global Dignity Day/2016.

SOURCE Global Dignity