Cindy Finley

About Cindy Finley

I serve as the Executive Director of RiverCross Global, where I’ve had the privilege of leading a passionate team since 2014. Our mission is to help vulnerable children and families around the world cross the barriers of trauma and step into healing, hope, and restoration. Over the past decade, I’ve guided RiverCross from a small pilot program in Zambia to a thriving international nonprofit with a presence in 12 countries. Along the way, we’ve built strategic partnerships—including a groundbreaking collaboration with Compassion International—expanded our donor base to 200+, and grown our budget from to over annually. My passion for this work began in an ordinary kitchen in Ukraine in 2008. A young mother named Albina, stirring a pot of soup for her dying neighbor, looked me in the eye and said words that changed me: “Cindy, we can’t do nothing.” Those words have shaped my conviction that while we can’t solve every global crisis, we can act—and through action, lives are transformed. I’m energized by visionary strategy, relational leadership, and building strong teams that connect purpose to impact. My strengths include achiever, futuristic, strategic, relator, and connectedness—which means I’m always looking ahead, drawing people together, and moving ideas into action. At the heart of it all, my greatest joy is seeing lives transformed—when children discover freedom is possible, when communities rise with resilience, and when hope takes root in hard places.

Experience

1. Executive Director

   Rivercross Global

   Feb 2014 — Present · Raleigh-Durham, NC, US

   As the Executive Director of RiverCross, I lead a team of staff and volunteers to set the world\'s vulnerable children free from trauma and share with them the hope of Christ so they can thrive. During my tenure we have grown our donor base by increased our budget by 500%, and expanded our geographical reach from one community to five countries. In 2019, I led our team in a transition from being a department within a larger organization to being an independent 501(c).During the Covid pandemic, we recognized that the crisis increased the vulnerability of the children we serve and so we tightened our administrative belt so that we could grow our on-the-ground services through broadcast, partnerships, and launching an online training program. In addition to my work as the Executive Director, I also serve as the Executive Producer overseeing the production of our audio dramas which have been broadcast into four countries and are used by our trainers in our workshops.

Education

• North Carolina State University

  Bachelor's degree

  1987 — 1989

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  Master's degree

  1989 — 1991

Skills

• Community Outreach
• Program Development
• Public Speaking
• Social Media
• Leadership
• Editing
• Newsletters
• Coaching
• Leadership Development
• Discipleship
• Blogging
• Training
• Volunteer Management
• Social Networking
• Curriculum Design
• Public Relations
• Microsoft Office
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Nonprofits
• Team Building
• Event Planning
• Teamwork
• Teaching
• Creative Writing
• Writing
• Fundraising
• Strategic Planning
• Curriculum Development
• Grant Writing