
Cindy Zarate is a seasoned contract attorney, and former Executive Officer to the Under Secretary for Finance & Administration/Chief Financial Officer (USFA/CFO) at the Smithsonian Institution where she served for 20 years. From 2012 to February 2020, she advised the USFA/CFO on the administration and management of the Institution’s 14 mission-enabling offices, and their respective initiatives and policies. She worked closely with the Smithsonian Access office on various Institution-wide diversity and inclusion initiatives, ensuring equal access for its visitors and employees. Cindy served on the Smithsonian’s Project SEARCH program’s Steering Committee, which established and continues to oversee the annual 10-month unpaid internship program helping young adults with cognitive disabilities gain workplace knowledge and skills that can lead to paid employment. From 2012 to 2014, she also served as the Institution’s Acting Privacy Officer and created the first iteration of the Institution’s comprehensive Privacy Program and Privacy Program policy directives.
Prior to these roles, Cindy worked as a Contract Negotiator/Attorney Advisor and then Supervisory Attorney in the Institution’s Office of Contracting and Personal Property Management. In that capacity, she counseled and negotiated agreements for revenue-generating activities such as for its retail stores, restaurants, theaters, and product licensing; building construction initiatives, and professional consulting. She negotiated agreements supporting the Institution’s intellectual property, copyright, and licensing needs, in book publishing, museum website creation, image licensing, product development, and museum exhibition creation. She also handled much of the Institution’s real estate portfolio; which included negotiating commercial leases for employee office space and museum collection storage; as well as unique needs such as the lease for the Institution’s cultural recovery activities in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.
Since 2010, Cindy (and her husband, Juan) have been proud ACDS parents to Peyton (‘19), and Aiden (‘22). Cindy served as a member of the Head of School’s Cabinet (Spring, 2015), and Co-Chair to the Always ACDS Campaign (2015 to 2019). Cindy earned her BA degree from Wellesley College and JD from Boston College Law School. A fitness professional for over 28 years, she enjoys teaching barre, cycle, and step classes at Results Fitness in Alexandria, VA.
“We were first drawn to ACDS for its strong academics and individual attention to its students’ growth. As we witnessed our children matriculate through the years, we became especially appreciative of the quality and dedication of the teachers and faculty; emphasis on service-learning and community-mindfulness; and its incomparable public speaking and communications program. The ACDS community has been a welcoming one that we have cherished as family for over a decade.”