Cynthia Rayner works with social purpose organizations and funders as a consultant, researcher, and co-learner. She is currently a senior researcher, adjunct lecturer and PhD candidate at the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation, a specialised center of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, where she researches collective approaches to systems change.

As a researcher and storyteller, Cynthia uncovers "stories from the edge" that reveal the power of people in collectives. She recently co-authored The Systems Work of Social Change which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2021. She has also written numerous teaching cases, journal articles, reports, and editorials.

Previously, Cynthia served as Programme Director for Generation Ubuntu, an afterschool program serving children in Cape Town; Strategic Planning Consultant for mothers2mothers, an African social enterprise employing women to guide other women on the journey to good health; and Executive Director of the Starfish Greathearts Foundation USA, an organisation supporting children and families in South Africa. In 2009, Cynthia was an LGT Venture Philanthropy Impact Fellow.

Cynthia began her career working in the corporate sector as a management consultant. She has a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from INSEAD.