People, community and culture mold us into the unique individuals we are today. And, as we move through the world as adults, research suggest that 85% of sensory input – how we perceive the world -- is through sight. Yet sight often allows us to judge our world and others from afar without a full perspective. Drawing from snippets of her life story, speaker Cynthia Bryant will challenge these visual perceptions and interactions, suggesting the critical need today to move in close using all senses to master our stories as a catalyst for understanding and change. Practicing empathy becomes essential. We will explore empathy; sensory mindfulness and the joy of being blind through a mental walk with her and her guide dog, and solutions on how we move beyond our visual 85%.
Co-sponsored by Connie Morella Library. Free and open to the public.
Cynthia Bryant is certified as a mediator/negotiator from the Harvard Negotiation institute, Clifton Strengths coach and diversity practitioner. She presently conducts workshops on the art of practicing empathy and keynotes on sensory mindfulness- engaging all senses- for elevated perception and understanding.
With more than 20 years at the Federal Communications Commission, Cynthia served as Special Counsel for alternative dispute resolution in the Office of Workplace Diversity. She also handled foreign ownership licenses and telecom mergers, investigated/adjudicated antifraud and anticompetitive telecom carrier behavior impacting consumers, and tackled telecom barriers affecting tribal communities through directed outreach and regulatory initiatives. Under the Clinton administration, Cynthia joined the presidential task force on employment of adults with disabilities, collaborating with senior federal government executives on equal employment and telecommunications access.
Cynthia’s present board services include National Industries for the Blind and the Spencer Museum of Art. She is also an African American Federal Executive Association fellow. Cynthia formerly served as chair of the Board of Trusttees for the Seeing Eye, a guide dog school, and is presently matched with her fourth guide dog, a yellow lab named Sandy. Cynthia is a member of the Bethesda Village and the Women’s Club of Chevy Chase. She has been spotlighted in Washington Lawyer magazine, and honored in the Bethesda Magazine’s September 2024 edition as a woman who inspires. She was dubbed the “translator,” in the University of Kansas Alumni Magazine’s February 2024 feature article, highlighting her strength in bridging people. In the fall of 2025, Marquis Who’s Who honored Cynthia for expertise in legal and public service, being one of the Marquis Top Lawyers, and Who’s Who of Professional Women. She is presently working on her book, Blinded by Sight: Sensory Mindfulness Lighting the Way to Empathy. Cynthia is barred in Missouri, the District of Columbia and admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.