Cynthia K. Orellana is the Director of the Office of Community Partnerships at the University of Massachusetts Boston, which seeks to identify, strengthen, and create collaborative, high impact, reciprocal community partnerships that advance the university’s mission as Boston's public research university. Previously, she served in Governor Deval Patrick’s administration in the roles of Assistant Commissioner for Access and Success Strategies at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education and as Director of the Commonwealth Corps and managing grassroots initiatives in the Governor’s Office. Cynthia has nearly fifteen years of experience as a public servant at the state and federal level. Professional experiences include community organizing, advocacy, community development, voter engagement, cross-organizational partnerships, policy and planning, and developing startup initiatives. Cynthia was recognized by Get Konnected’s 25 Influential Millennial Leaders of Color and Amplify Latinx’s list of 30 Amplifiers for the Latino community in Massachusetts in 2018; and among the 100 most influential people in Massachusetts to the Latino community in El Planeta Newspaper’s 2017 Powermeter list. Cynthia holds a M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, a B.S. in Political Science from Northeastern University, and is a doctoral student in the Higher Education Leadership program at the University of Massachusetts Boston.