Cynthia Buiza
Template:TOCnestleft Cynthia Buiza
Background
“Like many in my generation, I grew up under the brutal dictatorship of then President Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. But I essentially learned to ‘give a damn’ about others from my mother. The Bicol region where I came from is also home to an in indigenous population called the Aetas or Agta. As industrial development came to the countryside, many Aetas were displaced from their indigenous lands and many families were often driven to begging and sometimes bartering in exchange for money, rice and clothing. They often found their way to our neighborhood, especially during fiesta and other holidays. The day when they paid us a visit was a day that Mama often highly anticipated. I knew when they were about to arrive because my mother bundled up a few pieces of used clothing, set aside a couple of kilos of rice and a few cans of sardines.”
Cynthia is a strategist, capacity building expert and experienced researcher and facilitator who has worked for 25 years on international forced migration, immigration, social development, human rights and civil rights issues in Southeast Asia and the United States. She also consulted with international organizations before working on U.S. immigration and civil rights issues. She is highly skilled in strategy formulation, policy analysis, capacity building, research, and project and program development and management.
She earned a Masters in International Affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, with a concentration on human security studies. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from the Philippines and a Certificate in Refugee and Migration Studies from the Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre.
Cynthia trained as a community organizer in the Philippines and this orientation informs her philosophy and work ethic. She ensures that client participation and their collaboration is at the heart of any undertaking, and helps them unleash the solutions and creative ideas that are essential to the vitality of their organizations. At present, she is working with nine regional coalitions in California on a statewide capacity building project that aims to strengthen these coalitions’ sustainability through a combination of highly customized training and leadership coaching. In previous projects, she worked in various capacities as strategist, advisor, coach and writer/researcher.[1]
RoadMap
Cynthia Buiza is a consultant with RoadMap, a Freedom Road Socialist Organization affiliated consultancy group .[2]