Cinda Herndon-King
Workforce Development and Economic Opportunity Advocate
Cinda Herndon-King, founded and led CareerRise from its inception in 2011 until her retirement in 2019. In partnership with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and local funders, Dr. Herndon-King began supporting and cultivating industry partnerships in the metro Atlanta region. She helped metro Atlanta workforce practitioners understand how these partnerships could benefit the region, break down silos, increase access to opportunity for local workers and resolve employer workforce needs. During her tenure, CareerRise made investments in healthcare, maintenance, manufacturing, construction, transportation, distribution and logistics, hospitality, and information technology; enrolling nearly 800 individuals resulting in over 2,000 industry recognized credentials. She was also instrumental in laying the groundwork for the network that CareerRise now refers to as its Industry Partnership Network. Thanks to her hard work and dedication, CareerRise has become a trusted and critical partner to all workforce development practitioners in the metro Atlanta region. Due, in part, to the trust that was nurtured over the years, in 2019 Dr. Herndon-King successfully rallied local support-and our workforce areas-and received an award for nearly $900,000 over three years from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. This award made it possible for CareerRise to lead the Systems Change for Economic Mobility project in partnership with WorkSource Metro Atlanta, the five local workforce development boards. Dr. Herndon-King has had 30 years of experience working in public-private partnerships in technology-based economic development and workforce development and education, with a particular focus on forming and managing partnerships with employers. She is an alumna of Clemson University, earned a PhD at the University of Tennessee Oak Ridge in biochemistry and completed her postdoctoral study at Penn State University.