Sunday Spotlight – Cindi Berns

Name: Cindi Berns

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Executive Network Member Since: November 2010

Most Recently Held Position: Development Director and part of the leadership team at Teen Line, a youth mental health organization located at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In Cindi’s 3.5 years there, she increased the organization’s revenue 80%.

Industry: For the last 13 years, Cindi has held senior leadership roles in the nonprofit sector; Make A Wish Foundation (Interim VP Development), The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (VP Strategic Partnerships), Six Degrees Global/Producers Guild of America (VP Sponsorship), and The International 3D Society (SVP Corporate Alliances).

Prior to being in nonprofit, Cindi spent 15 years in the entertainment and media industries where she worked developing strategic partnerships and alliances for film and television for major studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Interactive, Hallmark Entertainment, Warner Bros, and others. Cindi also launched and headed the entertainment divisions at media companies Screenvision, OnSpot Digital and Starlite Media. Some of the properties she worked on include Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Dawson’s Creek, National Geographic, Sesame Street, Entourage, Point Break, The Intern, and many other TV, film, and Interactive campaigns.

Personal + Professional Interests Outside of EN: “Travel tops my list. I am fascinated by the cultures and people of the world. Since the pandemic put a hold on my travel plans these past two years, I have been deciding where to go once it is safe to travel internationally again.

Walking (especially at the beach) has kept me sane these past 19 months. Yoga is also a favorite.

I am an avid reader starting my day with the New York Times and the Daily Beast and wind down with novels (historical fiction is a favorite).

I am also an avid Dodgers fan. I even had the player’s bobbleheads lined up in my former office!

Lastly, I love just hanging out with my ‘Mystery Doodle’ rescue dog, Margaux.”

EN Resources Cindi’s Found Helpful: “The abundance of events – especially the networking roundtables – are excellent. Since these are currently virtual, you have the chance to interact with people from across the country and attend sessions that are in different locations. The facilitators are experts in their fields and have been tremendous resources of support and information. Also, I always learn something new in the McDermott Minute and live master classes.”

EN Benefit Cindi Wants Others to Know About + Participate: “The Executive Network is not just for those in-transition. While I am in-transition at the moment, I have been a part of this group for over 10 years – much of that time I was employed (staff or consultant). It is an excellent way to meet and network with like-minded people (I still speak with many of them). Attend the events, stay connected with the people you meet (including the facilitators), and remember to pay it forward.”

Position Seeking + Next Steps: “I have a very unique career trajectory holding senior positions in both nonprofit and entertainment/media. This blended experience has made me an innovative thought leader that can create, negotiate, and launch profitable initiatives; from concept, preparing/presenting business plans, to developing and implementing the programs which allows me to successfully drive transformational revenue growth and expansion.

My goal is a Chief Development Officer, VP Development or Senior Development Director position with a social service driven nonprofit (such as the ADL, ACLU, Times Up, etc.) or an organization focused on wide-ranging disease/health issues (such as Alzheimer’s Association, PanCan, Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, Autism Speaks, etc.). This could be based in Los Angeles, remote or hybrid.

I have also been looking at opportunities as an SVP, VP or Senior Director Corporate Alliances in the nonprofit sector.”

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindiberns/
Email: cindiberns@gmail.com

 

Resources Mentioned Above:
Executive Network Event Calendar
Executive Network Facilitators
McDermott Minute