Lydia Cincore-Templeton, CEO of the Los Angeles-headquartered Children Youth and Family Collaborative (CYFC), was one of six trailblazers around the country honored as a MAKERS: Women Who Make America.”
Cincore-Templeton was selected from more than 1,200 entries and after a six-week search conducted by media giant AOL, and Simple® skincare products for outstanding, innovative and inspirational women, and honored during a special ceremony in New York. She joins a prestigious group of 160 previous honorees, including Hillary Clinton, Marian Wright Edelman, Sandra Day O’Connor, Condoleezza Rice, Alice Walker and Martha Stewart.
In addition to receiving a $10,000 grant, her story was professionally filmed and will be featured online at Makers.com (in mid-December) and in a documentary entitled “MAKERS: Women Who Make America,” scheduled to air on PBS in February. The film will tell the story of the Women’s Movement over the last half century.
In 1993, Cincore-Templeton’s vision to assist youth living in foster placement, led her to quit her job as an attorney and using $18,000 in savings, she started CYFC at Holman United Methodist Church, where she is a missionary. Since that time, the CEO has been an advocate and trailblazer, providing intervention and educational services for youth in foster placement. From a staff of one, she has grown CYFC to more than 125 employees, and an annual budget of $4.5 million. The organization has also served more than 5,000 youth. CYFC’s programs provide academic intervention, tutoring and support services at 40 sites, including schools within the Los Angeles, Montebello, Pomona, Hacienda, LaPuente and Compton school districts. The organization is funded by private donors and grants, and partners with civic, community and faith-based groups as well as five major colleges and universities.
