Cynthia Rayner

Cynthia Rayner is a senior researcher, adjunct lecturer and Phd student with the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. Her research focuses on how organisations and communities work to shape social systems in collective ways. Cynthia is especially interested in research that makes the connection between practice and theory, providing practical methods and tools for organisations and communities to further their social change efforts.

A former management consultant, Cynthia worked in the corporate sector for many years before shifting to the nonprofit sector. In her corporate career, Cynthia provided strategy, supply chain and cost reduction advisory services to clients in the telecommunications, private equity, hospitality and manufacturing industries. In the nonprofit sector, she has served in several organizations, including Generation Ubuntu, an afterschool program educating children in Cape Town; mothers2mothers, an African social enterprise employing women to guide other women to good health; and the Starfish Greathearts Foundation, a nonprofit supporting children and families in South Africa.

Cynthia holds a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from INSEAD.