Cynthia Gordy Giwa, ProPublica

Cynthia Gordy Giwa was ProPublica's marketing director. She came to ProPublica after serving as deputy communications director for Advancement Project, where she developed comprehensive media campaigns for the national civil rights organization and local partners. With an emphasis on using strategic communications as an effective tool for policy change, she managed public awareness efforts that helped move Virginia to restore voting rights for people with felony convictions, pushed Florida lawmakers to abandon legislation that would have restricted voting access for language minorities, and brought North Carolina’s multi-issue "Moral Mondays" movement to national attention.

Cynthia previously worked in journalism for nearly a decade, as a White House correspondent and news editor for Essence magazine, as well as senior political correspondent for The Root. Recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists as the 2009 Emerging Journalist of the Year, her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Slate and NPR.