Cynthia Jacobs Carter, GSEHD MA ’94, EdD ’98, is the new chief development officer at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. She leads the Center’s unrestricted fundraising efforts, which include major gifts, campaigns, planned giving, events, direct mail, social media fund raising, cause marketing, and the growing of the endowment. In addition, she raises funds, largely through sponsorships, for the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
She most recently served at Africare as chief development/external affairs officer. Prior to Africare, she was director of development at InterAction, and at Howard University. She also served as a director in institutional advancement at GW. Dr. Carter has taught at Georgetown University and at GW, both in Africana Women’s Studies. She is a National Geographic Society author of two books: Freedom In My Heart: Voices from the United States National Slavery Museum (Random House), and Africana Woman: Her Story Through Time (Simon and Schuster).
