Cynthia (a.k.a. Cynth’ya) Lewis-Reed is a native of Anderson, Indiana, a northern suburb of Indianapolis. She is a dual-degreed graduate of Ball State University in Muncie Indiana. (1978 BA in Health Science; first in 1978/Department of Physiology, and once again in 1990 with her master's degree in journalism, with a concentration in public relations.)

Prior to three total strangers she encountered who convinced her that she should strongly consider graduate school, she developed an avid interest in community affairs and diversity issues during the 1980s. She became very engaged in volunteering to write and send opinion editorials for the local Muncie area newspapers, which got her noticed throughout the community. In 1987, this busy wife and mother of three young children decided to pursue a graduate degree in an area that she never studied before in her academic life: Journalism.

Being an active mother and wife, she was determined to complete the degree, sacrificing the entire summer of 1990 to complete the degree requirements. Learning about people, places, and the effects of what was going on in the world was her passion. Her husband and children were supportive of this goal. Cynth’ya graduate research project consisted of a side-by-side content analysis comparing how two of her hometown newspapers depicted the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy to their readership.

During her graduate internship, Cynth'ya led multiple awareness initiatives for the Ball State community. She wrote several articles for the award-winning Ball State University "Orient" yearbook; the Multicultural Student Affairs newsletter, as well as writing several articles for the Ball State Daily News. In April of 1990, Cynth’ya was nominated and awarded an award called the Mary Etta Taylor Rose Award for Outstanding Community Service by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Ball State University.

She was also one of the founding members of the first National Association of Black Journalist student chapter. Within 30 days of achieving her M.A. in journalism, she began her professional career as a regional advocate through a state-funded contractual position and was appointed to work with 11 Indiana counties as the Associate Director for the Governor’s Commission for Drug Free Indiana, East Central Region through Ball State University’s School of Continuing Education and Public Service.

Her duties encompassed community development, prevention strategies, grant writing, networking, public speaking, coalition building, workshop development, and group training for diverse populations using media. While working at BSU she has had the honor of serving as a marketing analyst, a workshop creator and facilitator, being a guest presenter for the physiology and health science department, script writer, media commentator and guest panelist, freelance writer and publicist. Cynth’ya has represented Ball State in major international conventions in Washington, DC, and Atlanta, GA, Nashville, TN.

The most fulfilling part of her work was assisting community councils in small rural Indiana communities. Within only a few months after Cynth’ya accepted the role with the Governor’s Commission, she was asked to help to launch the Muncie Times, which was an African American owned founded by the late-great Bea Moten-Foster who once served as an announcer to the United Nations. On the side, in 2005, she worked alongside an online talk show in Atlanta GA called “He Said, She Said" as a public relations writer. That role led to an invitation to take part as one of the lead writers for an innovative Atlanta start-up magazine called “Sophisticated Groom," which was designed to educate and empower men in the wedding process.

She has also been a commentator for USAfricaOnline.com, a long standing international Nigerian news source based in Houston, Texas. Those who have known Cynth’ya for several years describe her as someone who has strong communication skills and work ethics; someone who is committed to her beliefs; a woman of high moral character who does not mind going the extra mile when necessary. Others describe her as one who is uniquely capable of being assertive, when necessary, as well as diplomatic who is motivated to get things done.

Between 2000-2005, Cynth'ya served in the role of adjunct professor in the communications departments of Ivy Tech State College (a.k.a. Ivy Tech Community College) in Marion Indiana, Muncie, Indiana, and Richmond Indiana. She also served as faculty mentor on Ivy Tech’s Student Diversity Committee. 

Cynth’ya is also an independent contractor and certified luxury travel professional, dedicated to making life “Better Than Donuts.com” which is the brand name for R and L Group LLC that she and her husband co-manage.

She is adamant about travel lifestyles, self-care and personal/spiritual empowerment. In 2024, Cynth’ya developed a strong interest in affordable stem cell phototherapy and became a brand partner with a long-standing global general wellness company known as Lifewave, based in Draper, Utah. In 2025 she began volunteering as a group leader “School of Recovery, “ part of a weekly empowerment group with Cerenity Recovery Café, Anderson, IN. In February 2026. www,CerenityRecoveryCafeAnderson.org

In February 2025, Cynth'ya was requested by Gail Watson, president of Women Speakers Association International, Santa Monica, California, to co-author a best-selling anthology with 45 other women selected from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. WSA focuses on empowering women around the world through professional training and coaching.

The book, in its ninth volume is themed, “Voices of the 21st Century: Unstoppable Women, Standing Strong.” Her chapter entry, “Woman Overboard: Me versus Me” opens with the following paragraph:

“As a child, I was brought up in a very conservative religious environment. My conscience reminded me to behave in public, to act like a proper young lady (whatever was deemed “proper” in the 1960s), to love God, to love my neighbor, and to love myself. So why is it that for at least five decades of my adult life, I felt as if I were my own worst combatant?” ©2026 Cynth'ya Lewis Reed, Voices of the 21st Century: Unstoppable Women, Standing Strong. WSA Publishing, Santa Monica, CA. 2026. Page 81.

As a self-declared retiree since 1995, Cynth’ya Lewis Reed is still an energetic essayist, blogger and gold-member poet. She has also taken part in an international online writing community (AuthorsDen.com) since November 2002. Being a part of that group motivated her to create her first two self-published poetry books. Cynth’ya has also self published books of poetry and has a strong online presence under the hashtag #ReedismXYZ.

Married since 1975, Cynth’ya loves tackling subjects that most others shy away from about relationship challenges with her active book project “Is Marriage An Ugly Word? Fifty Years of Challenges, Choices, and Changes from a Spiritual Perspective.” Publisher: Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan. Projected publishing date: Spring/Summer 2026.