For the past 3 1/2 years, Cynthia Pratt has been volunteering behind the scenes at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, providing indispensable administrative support to the organization, says Executive Director Rod Boggs. She has been “critical to our development efforts,” he says, by taking time one day every week to update our database of individual donors and volunteers, and research prospective supporters.

A few years after retiring, Cynthia was ready to get back into an office and contribute in a volunteer capacity. A friend said, “I have the job for you,” and soon thereafter Cynthia was on the phone with Rod. Of her role at the Committee, Cynthia says, “What I love is the Zen of it. It is meditative in a way.” She says that it is “therapeutic” and “fun to use your imagination to follow the thread of where people have gone,” especially given the high mobility of lawyers in the DC Metro area. She also appreciates the opportunity to be a part of the civil rights mission of the organization.

Cynthia grew up in Rhode Island and arrived in DC in 1963 to attend college at The George Washington University. Soon after graduation she began a career as a trade and professional association manager for organizations in the District. Cynthia has watched DC change and grow from her house in Mt. Pleasant, which she bought in 1975. She has also seen the world—Cynthia has traveled to five out of seven continents “so far” with her husband of 31 years, Larry. Most recently they went to Cuba and Costa Rica, and up next is a tour of Eastern Europe that includes Budapest, a cruise on the Danube River, Prague, and Germany!

The Committee is seeking additional volunteers to provide part-time support. For more information, click here.