AUTHOR | SPEAKER | CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER

Cynthia Owyoung is vice president of inclusion, equity, and belonging at Robinhood, where she drives the company’s approach to enhancing its culture of diversity and inclusion. As the founder of Breaking Glass Forums, she develops strategies to accelerate an increase in more diverse leaders and inclusive organizations.

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She has established and led diversity and inclusion initiatives for nearly 20 years at organizations both large and small, including Charles Schwab, GitHub, Yahoo!, and Intuit. Cynthia is known for integrating a diversity and inclusion lens into all aspects of the business, from talent management to product development. She has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine in their 2021 list of 100 Women of Impact, on the Top 100+ Remarkable Women in HR in 2021 by Canvas, North America’s Most Influential D&I Leaders in 2020 by Hive Learning, and the Global Diversity List 2020.

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Cynthia has been a featured speaker at conferences and events hosted by TEDx, Women in Tech International, Tech Inclusion, the Anita Borg Institute, the Conference Board, and USC’s Center for Effective Organizations, among others. She has been interviewed for multiple podcasts and articles, including the Huffington Post, LinkedIn’s Talent Blog, and Diversity Woman Magazine.

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Prior to her calling in human resources, Cynthia launched a strategic planning consultancy, increasing the capabilities of nonprofit and for-profit organizations in organizational development, brand marketing, and business strategy. She also built a decade-long career as a brand strategist for leading global brands and advertising agencies, developing campaigns for Microsoft, Levi Strauss, and Apple.

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Cynthia currently serves on the board of directors for AbilityPath, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering people with special needs to achieve their full potential. She has served on the steering committee for the Silicon Valley Chief Diversity Officers Consortium, launched the Bay Area Diversity Peer Network, and chaired the Employee Resource Group Advisory Council.

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She earned an MBA in human resources from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, a bachelor’s in marketing and finance from UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, also from UC Berkeley.