Cynthia Simons is the Grant Me The Wisdom Foundation (GMTW) Women's Fellow for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. Her passion for civil rights and justice reform stems back to the age of 16, when she graduated from high school and attended the University of Texas at San Antonio. That passion has since been fueled by a firsthand view of the justice system: As a formerly incarcerated woman, Cynthia hopes to protect women’s rights and ensure that women have access to resources and rehabilitative services before, during, and after interactions with the justice system. This includes the critical need for strategies that promote family connection and reunification. At TCJC, Cynthia works to end mass incarceration and support women and families who have been impacted by the justice system; she coordinates the Texas Women’s Justice Coalition in support of trauma-informed programming and gender-responsive reforms.