Cynthia Okechukwu received her BA in history from Yale College in 2008 and her JD from Yale Law School in 2013. During college, she was active in Habitat for Humanity and Elmseed Enterprise Fund, a student-run nonprofit microcredit organization dedicated to creating small businesses in New Haven. As a law student, she was a leader in the Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale, the Ludwig Community and Economic Development Clinic, and the Yale Black Law Students Association.

Cynthia has been an assistant general counsel in the University of Chicago’s Office of Legal Counsel since 2019. Before joining the University of Chicago, she was a tax associate in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP. Outside of work, Cynthia serves as a mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago.