33rd Annual UNCF Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Brunch – Detroit

Cynthia A. Bond Hopson is chief equity officer and assistant general secretary of the Black College Fund (BCF) at the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) in Nashville. Her duties include helping to craft an intentional inclusion, diversity, equity, and access focus for the GBHEM staff and constituencies. Her work with the Black College Fund supports the ministry of the 11 UMC-related Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Bethune-Cookman, Claflin, Clark Atlanta, Dillard, Huston-Tillotson, Philander Smith, and Wiley Universities, Meharry Medical College, and Bennett, Paine, and Rust Colleges).

During 2023-2024, she served a 13-month term as Interim President and CEO of Philander Smith University, Little Rock, AR, and on September 1, began her 19^th year of service at the GBHEM.

She received the B.A. in Mass Communications from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University); the M.S. in Journalism from Murray (KY) State University, and the Ph.D. in Journalism from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She has earned the certificate in Fund Raising Management from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certification from the University of Southern Florida Muma College of Business. She is a former journalism professor at The University of Memphis, Murray (KY) State University, and Lane College, and has been recognized for her commitment and advocacy of HBCU and higher education.

She is a native of Stanton, TN, host of Three Stores, Two Cotton Gins, and One Remarkable Life: The Journey from There to Here podcast, columnist, best-selling author of eight books, speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and consultant. She is widowed, the mother of Marcos and Angela, grandmother of Kiera, Terrell, Maya, and Morgan, and great grandson, Avery King Hopson’s 2G. She is a member of the NAACP, the National Association of Black Journalists, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She and her generations live in Cordova, TN.