Cynthia Briscoe Brown was elected to her first term in Seat 8, At Large of the Atlanta Board of Education in 2013 and was re-elected to the citywide post in 2017 and 2021. An extremely active Board member at every level, Cynthia has chaired the Board Development Committee, Policy Review Committee, and Equity Task Force. She has been instrumental in the development of Dual Language Immersion classrooms, International Career Exchange opportunities, special-needs Pre-K, Social Emotional Learning initiatives, significant community partnerships, and the historic Equity Policy.

A graduate of Davidson College and Vanderbilt Law School, Cynthia uses her decades of experience as an attorney and community volunteer to benefit Atlanta’s students, teachers and families. She helped Young Audiences of Atlanta develop the smART stART program, using arts experiences to improve reading skills in low-SES APS kindergarten students. She has guided the formation of over a dozen foundations which support longterm funding and significant community philanthropy at the school level. Cynthia also has a long history of leadership in metro nonprofits, including the Boards of WABE/WPBA, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., Calvin Center, the Atlanta Partnership for Arts in Learning, the Committee for Teaching About the United Nations/Atlanta (CTAUN), the Alliance Française d’Atlanta, North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools (NAPPS), and the PTAs at all her children’s schools, making connections and working across the city to build community.

Cynthia is the granddaughter, daughter, daughter-in-law, and parent of APS alumni. She and her husband, James F. (Jim) Brown, Jr., are both Atlanta natives and practicing attorneys. They are active in music and service ministries at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. They have two young-adult children, both of whom attended Atlanta Public Schools K-12.