Cynthia Shapira

Cynthia D. Shapira is Vice President of the David S. and Karen A. Shapira Foundation. With her husband David, she leads the development and implementation of the foundation’s initiatives, such as Onward Israel (which transforms young adults through professional summer internships with Israeli businesses) and the Comprehensive Excellence project with Hillel International (designed to define and achieve a new standard for excellence on campus.) She is co-chair of the Task Force on the Government of Israel/World Jewry Initiative: Securing the Jewish Future. Ms. Shapira is the incoming Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. She is a trustee of Brandeis University and a governor of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Her Jewish community work also includes board member and Jewish Education & Engagement Unit Chair of the Jewish Federations of North America, and member of the board of the Jewish Funders Network. In Pittsburgh, she serves on the boards of Point Park University, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and The Pittsburgh Promise. Past service includes chair of the Pennsylvania Center for Women In Politics at Chatham University, United Way of Allegheny County board member, and WQED Pittsburgh board member. Ms. Shapira serves as Senior Policy Advisory to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and is on of the Board of the Allegheny County Airport Authority. She was appointed by Governor Corbett to the Pennsylvania Commission on Women and was a member of the 2012 Pennsylvania Electoral College. She served as Vice-Chair of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf's transition team, and currently serves on the Governor's Advisory Board on Education and Workforce Development. Ms. Shapira was Honorary Co-Chair of Allegheny 365, an initiative to ensure access to individuals of varying abilities in Allegheny County, and founded the 21 & Able policy project to address the needs of youth with disabilities aging out. She was a management consultant for twenty years in the non-profit and education sectors, including ten years as executive vice president of Pappas Consulting Group, Inc. Ms. Shapira has a Master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Wellesley College.