Cynthia Newell is Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff at City First Bank. She oversees the bank’s strategy execution, mission aligned funding aggregation, impact management, marketing and communications, and corporate strategic partnerships functions.  She co-led the bank’s merger of equals integration to support City First Bank in becoming the largest Black-led Minority Depository Institution in the country.  She led the bank in becoming certified as a BCorp and changing its incorporation to public benefit corporation status, making Broadway Financial Corporation one of two publicly traded financial services companies with that mission lock. She led the bank’s receipt of $150MM in Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) Funding and over $5 million in funding from the CDFI Fund.
 
She has nuanced knowledge of CDFIs having worked as a consultant with over 100 community development loan funds, banks, credit unions, and venture capital funds to enhance their ability to invest in underserved markets. She has provided guidance to various clients on how to expand partnerships with CDFIs and other financial inclusion organizations.