('78) President, The Bengier Foundation
Cynthia Bengier (B.A., '78) is an independent nonprofit leader. She retired in 1999 after 15 years in banking. At the time of her retirement, she was director of strategic planning and product development at Mondex USA. She previously worked at Wells Fargo Bank, holding a variety of positions including VP of Business Development for electronic cash, VP and division manager in the Business Banking Group, and VP and district manager for Business Checking Products.
Bengier is president of The Bengier Foundation (assets of $8.4M), whose mission is “to provide educational experiences that motivate, broaden and qualify bright, hard-working young people who have limited means and limited opportunities to enlarge their expectations of what they can accomplish in life.” She spends her time on her family, travel, philanthropy, and board and committee activities. She refers to her involvement and focus on youth development as her second career.
Bengier currently serves on the board of Global Citizen Year, which creates opportunities for young people to undergo transformative experiences by volunteering with non-profit organizations overseas. She is a trustee emerita of the Bay Area board of Summer Search, and formerly served on the national board. Ms. Bengier served as vice chair of the boards of Bay School of San Francisco, Town School for Boys, and Rebuilding Together.
She earned her MBA in 1983 from New York University. She is married to Gary Bengier (M.A. 2011 Philosophy), former CFO of eBay and a writer of speculative fiction. The couple lives in San Francisco and has two grown children.