Cynthia Williams

Senior Editor

Cynthia

cynthia williams
“Dragonfly” means “possibility.” It’s gratifying to help teams fit high-quality editing, writing, and design into their busy workflows. Getting that sigh of relief from clients when they’ve submitted their proposal or met a tight deadline always makes me smile.

Off the clock

Morning ball-throwing with the cat
Afternoon walks with my partner
Reading books

Cynthia’s background is in editing and program evaluation, and during her 20 years in the editorial field, she has managed small and large projects at public interest nonprofits, policy centers, and book publishers.

Cynthia has helped authors and researchers with all types of materials: book manuscripts, proposals, newsletters, corporate communications, and reports. The subject areas of these materials include climate change, community capacity-building, finance, good governance, program evaluation, public health, and social justice.

As editorial and production manager at Public Citizen, Cynthia oversaw four publications, creating production schedules, assigning and writing stories, and providing graphic design for member newsletters. She keeps in touch with colleagues at previous employers, including Smithsonian Magazine, Georgia Health Policy Center, and Louisiana State University Press.

There has always been a project management component to her work, whether she was juggling multiple projects as a manuscript editor or managing a $350K SAMHSA subcontract as a research associate. After moving across the country from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles, Cynthia honed this skill further as an independent editorial contractor.

This role inspired her to be more vocal about the value of editing — and how fun it can be! She has relayed these messages as a chair of the Los Angeles chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA); as a conference and webinar presenter at ACES: The Society for Editing, Chicago Women in Publishing, Editors Canada, and the EFA; and as a guest on the Editors Knows Best Podcast and That Word Chat with Editor Mark Allen.

Cynthia earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Loyola University New Orleans and a master of public administration from Georgia State University. A published poet, she interviews editors of color at Outside-the-Book.com to help bring more diversity to the editing profession.

Make dragonfly part of your team

Enjoying our content?

Sign up for our monthly newsletter, with tips on writing, editing, and design.