Project Leader Biographies: Solet Initiative

Cynthia Phillips is an economist, writer, social entrepreneur and filmmaker.   She is the founder and executive director of the Solet Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to building alliances and programs to support sustainable businesses, communities, and environments both domestically and abroad. She has been a Guardian for A Network for Grateful Living since 2005 and is a boardmember of Local First, Arizona. Cynthia also serves as a facilitator for "Awakening the Dreamer" Symposiums for the Pachamama Alliance.

Her films include documentaries concerning poverty and hunger alleviation in Africa as well as how the arts can support peaceful coexistence in areas of strife.  They have been distributed to domestic and international policy makers and institutions including the US Congress and United Nations. She is currently a director in international marketing at American Express and lives in Phoenix. Cynthia is passionately committed to promoting sustainable environmental and community development as a guiding principle locally, domestically, and internationally.