Cynar, Ken

Category: All Consultants, Corporate Social Responsibility, Crisis Management, Ethics, Government Relations Consultants, Issues Management, Socially-Responsible Investing, Strategic Communications

Executive Vice President, Governance & Accountability Institute Inc.

Expertise:  Strategic Communication; Public Policy; Local, Municipal and State Government Operations; Government Relations and Public Affairs; Crisis Management and Emergency Response; Issues Management; Public Relations and Editorial Services.

Ken Cynar has served in senior management positions in private industry, government and not-for-profits for more than three decades.  His is recognized for his skills in communicating critical concepts and ideas and developing strategies to inform and persuade communities,civic leadership, the general public and important stakeholders.  

He is an experienced government administrator who created many successful initiatives resulting from effective partnerships of business and government (and government and the social sector).  Ken has broad-based experience in such areas as community development; commercial, industrial and economic development; affordable housing; fair lending; all aspects of environmental management, public safety and health care; formation of public policy initiatives; and the management of public transportation and emergency response systems. 

He is a recognized crisis and issues management expert who has handled airline crash site response and communication, public health crises and public sector fiscal emergencies. Ken was a responder for American Airlines in the New York region during the tragic September 11, 2001 terror attacks; previously he participated in coordinating municipal agency responses for the Avianca air crash on Long Island's North Shore and scores of major incidents including gas explosions, building collapses, and natural disasters including major storms, blizzards and hurricanes.

Prior to joining the Governance and Accountability Institute  he headed his own communications firm; served in private industry as director of media relations for a Washington, DC-based consulting organization; and in government as a administrator, implementer, press secretary and director of communications for the Nassau County Executive (Long Island, New York).   Over the years, he held a series of government positions specializing in public information and media relations, including assistant to the commissioner of the Nassau County Police Department and director of Taxpayer Information for the Board of Assessors.  (Nassau is one of the largest counties in the U.S., population 1.3 million).

A veteran communicator, Cynar held the position of Special Assistant to the County Executive, functioning as deputy county executive, supervising eighteen county departments and issue areas and helping to implement a variety of new and innovative programs.

These areas included community development, affordable housing, commerce and industry, emergency management, and health care.  He was part of the team that developed and implemented Operation Downtown  - a vital community development initiative - winning awards from HUD and the National Association for Housing and Renewal Officials.  The program became part of the model of HUD’s current Main Street program.

Ken was liaison to the county’s community development program and organized and chaired the County’s Emergency Management Task Force; he also coordinated the Goodwill Games (sponsored by Turner Sports), which began under Ted Turner’s sponsorship after the U.S. team to the Olympics in Moscow was prohibited by the president from participating for political reasons.

A graduate of Hofstra University, he holds both a B.A. and M.A. and has received additional training from the Lincoln Institute of Land Management at Harvard University and the Federal Emergency Management Training Institute.

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