Cindy grew up in Chicago, Kansas and Connecticut. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Northwestern University in 1983, Cindy worked as a community organizer in Cleveland and in Ghana with the US Peace Corps.  Her experiences as a community organizer led her to pursue education to become a family nurse practitioner. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing from Yale School of Nursing in 1990 and moved to Oregon. While practicing as a family nurse practitioner at Chemawa Indian Health Service Clinic, Multnomah County Clinic for the Homeless and Sweet Home Family Medicine Clinic, she saw firsthand the provider bias toward and health disparities and health inequities experienced by women, American Indians and Alaskan Natives. This led her to pursue a research doctorate in nursing in order to conduct research focused on promoting physical activity as an avenue to promote health equity. She earned her PhD from OHSU in 2005. She uses a community engaged approach to research which combines her community organizing experience with her research education and has worked with rural communities in Washington and Oregon promoting active living and health equity. Cindy continued to practice as a family nurse practitioner until 2018. Cindy is the Elizabeth N. Gray Distinguished Professor in in the School of Nursing at OHSU. She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association.  When not working to promote active living and health equity, Cindy enjoys spending time in nature hiking, backpacking, snow shoeing, and cycling.