Cindy Sutter-Tkel
Director of Housing & Services, Santa Cruz

Cindy is responsible for overseeing all Santa Cruz County housing programs at Abode, fostering new housing partnerships, and providing input and expertise to achieve the agency’s strategic goals. She provides oversight to housing components of other programs within Abode, including ensuring successful implementation, evaluation, and coordination of services. She also ensures that programs are in compliance with funding regulations, program goals, and stakeholder expectations. Cindy is a driven and dynamic nonprofit management professional with a diverse array of work experience ranging from local nonprofit groups to large-scale international organizations. She has a deep commitment to helping marginalized populations and a professional focus on ameliorating poverty. Cindy’s strong leadership skills stem in large part from being passionate about empowering team members to best achieve the organization's mission while building a sense of community. 

Cindy has served on boards, committees, and task forces for many organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, the Emergency Assistance Network of Santa Clara County, Emergency Food and Shelter Program Board of Santa Clara County, Emergency Food and Shelter Program California State Set Aside Committee, San Francisco Needs Assessment Task Force, Anti-Human Trafficking Committee of The Salvation Army, and Church World Service-Refugee Resettlement.   

Cindy holds a Bachelor’s degree in social work from Cairn University in Langhorne, Penn., and a Master’s degree in social work, policy and planning from Temple University.