Cindy Lopez is the ACCT Director of Search Services and Tribal College Initiatives. She has over 15 years of higher education experience and is an experienced search consultant, higher education leader, educator and program manager.  

Prior to joining ACCT for the second time, Ms. Lopez was the Executive Director of Network Engagement at Achieving the Dream, the largest higher education reform network in the United States, where she oversaw recruitment and support for groups of colleges in the network seeking to improve the student experience and student outcomes. She also designed and managed projects for minority serving institutions and rural colleges. This included Project Success, a major project through which Achieving the Dream partnered with tribal colleges and universities to build data capacity and support student success.

Ms. Lopez has been an undergraduate instructor and leadership administrator at the University of Oklahoma, a graduate instructor at Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia, and a project manager, and board retreat/institute facilitator at the Association of Community College Trustees.   

Cindy speaks fluent Spanish and did her undergraduate work at Cottey College, MO, and Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C. She obtained a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University.