Cindy Zeldin is an innovative and experienced health policy professional with expertise in policy analysis, stakeholder and community engagement, and strategic planning. She joins HMA with more than 15 years’ experience in Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and Affordable Care Act implementation, as well as work in insurance regulation, behavioral health and social determinants of health.

Prior to joining HMA, Cindy served as the executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future (GHF), a statewide consumer health advocacy organization. As the organization’s first executive director, Cindy carved out a niche for GHF as a critical bridge between healthcare consumers and health and insurance-focused policymakers.

Under her leadership, GHF built partnerships and coalitions around a variety of health policy issues including coverage expansions, health insurance outreach and enrollment, social determinants of health and preventing youth substance use disorders. She oversaw the development of publications including the annual Getting Georgia Covered report, which synthesized information about consumer experiences enrolling in, and using, health insurance marketplace coverage.

During her time at GHF, Cindy was regularly sought-after to provide the consumer perspective on healthcare policy issues, trends and legislation. She was appointed to and served on the governor’s Health Insurance Exchange Advisory Committee, the Senate Study Committee on the Provider and Consumer Protection Act and as a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Cindy was recognized in 2017 with the “Health Advocate of the Year” award for her work conceptualizing and successfully advocating for legislation in Georgia to improve the usability and accuracy of provider directories. She frequently provided legislative testimony and was regularly asked by journalists, community groups and stakeholders to make complex health policy topics accessible to a broader audience.

Earlier in her career, Cindy worked as a senior program associate providing research, policy analysis, communications and advocacy support for the health policy program at the New America Foundation, a national think tank. She began her career in state government, where she was part of a team at the Georgia Department of Audits that conducted performance reviews of state healthcare programs.

Cindy earned her Master of Public Health in health policy and management from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, has a master’s degree from The George Washington University, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Emory University.

Cindy lives in Atlanta with her husband, Doug, and their daughter, Naomi, who is in kindergarten.