Who is Cynthia Neff?
Cynthia Neff grew up in a military family, moving often throughout her childhood. After spending her high school years in Oklahoma, she left home at 17. While attending college and working full time in doctor’s offices and convalescent hospitals, she began her interest in public service, and served with the Flying Samaritans to provide medical care for those who could not afford it.
After school, Cynthia opened a gift store with a friend and served on a number of merchant and small business associations, even testifying to members of the Legislature on the needs of small business. She then went to work at IBM, starting in sales and operations. Throughout the next 25 years, Cynthia worked in a number of managerial and executive capacities for the company. From sales, to marketing, manufacturing, public policy, personal privacy, and human resources, she saw most every aspect of the company and how decisions affected the lives of the people working there.
Cynthia left the business world in 2006, and having spent much of her life traveling, she wanted to find the ideal spot to call home. She decided on the district for a number of reasons. As the sole caretaker of an elderly parent, she was looking for an area close to the rest of her family and one with excellent health care resources. She wanted an area with the cultural events of a college town with the rural setting, natural beauty, and sense of community that you can’t find in big cities. Albemarle County was the natural choice.
Since arriving in the district, Cynthia has been tireless in her work for the community. In addition to caring for her mother and two rescue dogs (Rebecca and Nick), Cynthia serves as the Chair of the AIDS/HIV Services Group Board of Directors, Legal Aid Justice Center, is a Court Appointed Special Advocate working with abused and endangered children, and works with several other charitable organizations, where she uses her years of experience and her effective business leadership to make our volunteer organizations more effective. Her work is focused on helping the most vulnerable members of the community.