“Leadership is my passion. I love designing systems. I also love creating and building new opportunities and innovations! I dream in bright colors.”
– Dr. Cynthia Alexander Mitchell, CBU Director of Graduate Studies
As a child, Dr. Cynthia Alexander Mitchell would sit on her front porch in South Memphis and “play principal.” Her mother was a teacher and her father worked in business but was teacher-trained. Education was of utmost importance in her household.
In order to give their children the most well-rounded, comprehensive academic experience—while staying within budget—the Alexanders rotated their daughter and her two brothers through public and Catholic elementary schools.
Each year, two siblings would attend Father Bertrand Catholic School on partial scholarships while the third sibling attended public school, switching until all children received exposure to both settings.
“My mother, especially, was so intentional about it,” said Dr. Mitchell. “She wanted us to have the best of both worlds.”
Following graduation from high school, Dr. Mitchell enrolled at the University of Tennessee-Martin. When it was time to choose a major, she tried to explore her options, but “I had to give in to myself,” she said. “Education was a calling that would not stop pulling me toward it.”
At a private school where she gained experience in college, Dr. Mitchell worked with a girl who had everything imaginable materially but lacked love and support. “I realized she needed someone to care about her enough to inspire her,” said Dr. Mitchell. “After that, I officially changed my major to education.”
Two years later, Dr. Mitchell was building upon her skills in the Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, when she was assigned to work in a class with a student with spina bifida. He had braces on both legs and had endured more than 20 surgeries in his short life.
“He had every reason not to be successful,” said Dr. Mitchell. But instead, he was so eager to learn and share with her what he knew (including Spanish words not to say). “I made him my teacher’s assistant,” she said. “He inspired me and made me realize that we need to create more opportunities, so all children have pathways to success.”
As that period came to a close, Dr. Mitchell made the difficult decision to take her growing talents back home to Memphis. She loved her Texas school and students, but a conversation with her “perpetual cheerleader” father reframed her priorities.
“I know you love it there,” she recalls him saying. “You can change the world, but you need to change home first.”
Dr. Mitchell returned to Memphis and, over the next two decades, immersed herself in K-12 public education. She began at Memphis City Schools (MCS) as a teacher at Klondike Elementary in 1997 and later transferred to Kingsbury Middle/High School (7-12).
During the 2004-05 school year, she was serving as Assistant Principal at Central High School when MCS Superintendent Carol Johnson stopped Dr. Mitchell in the hallway and asked, “Have you thought about being a principal?”
“She saw in me something that I thought I was having to prepare for,” Dr. Mitchell said. “Being able to identify leadership strengths is something that a leader does. They are not afraid to empower others.”
The following year, Dr. Mitchell embraced the nudge from the legendary servant-leader and began her tenure as the principal of Evans Elementary. On a particularly stressful school day, Superintendent Johnson appeared at Evans unannounced. She asked where she could store her purse and spent the rest of the day assisting and encouraging the young principal.
“As a new leader, that was life changing,” Dr. Mitchell said. “In leadership, there’s no script. You lead where you are needed, as you are needed.” To this day, Dr. Johnson comes to mind when Dr. Mitchell thinks of an example of an inspirational leader. She is a model, a mentor and a good friend.
Dr. Mitchell spent eight years as an MCS principal and another eight-plus years as an administrator and assistant superintendent in MCS and Shelby County Schools—during which time she completed a doctorate in Urban Education and Curriculum and Instructional Leadership.
She began serving as an Adjunct Professor in 2019 and officially transitioned full time into higher education in 2021. Her time in Catholic school and familiarity with the Brothers and Sisters prepared her to feel right at home at CBU. As the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Education, her curriculum and courses focus on school leadership, urban education, and modern school management.
“Dr. Mitchell approaches her responsibilities with integrity, enthusiasm, and a deep dedication to student success,” said Dr. Melinda M. Goedecke, Licensing Officer and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education.
“Education is not simply her career—it is her calling, and she exemplifies this through her leadership and service,” she added. “Her professionalism, warmth, and unwavering belief in the power of learning make her a tremendous asset to any educational community.”
Dr. Mitchell shares these gifts on campus and also internationally when she travels on behalf of CBU, providing information about the Master of Science in Educational Leadership, as well as campuswide graduate programs, and nurturing international students who come to CBU to take advantage of her insights.
Pastor M. Arkoh, who learned about the leadership program from Dr. Mitchell at a summit in Ghana, is among them.
“Dr. Mitchell brings visionary leadership anchored in faith, discipline, and genuine human investment,” said Arkoh. “She does not simply administer programs, she cultivates people. At CBU, she creates an environment where students, especially international students like myself feel seen, supported, and strategically guided.
“She carries a rare combination of academic rigor and maternal stewardship. She pushes excellence but never disconnects it from compassion. Her presence strengthens the intellectual culture of CBU while reinforcing its moral and Lasallian identity.”
Developing leaders like Arkoh, using a nuanced, individualized approach, is what invigorates Dr. Mitchell. As with education, she sees leadership as a calling. Most leaders burn out quickly because they have separated from that calling and put their focus elsewhere.
“When you build on the calling and not the coursework, you can sustain, even in those difficult moments,” said Dr. Mitchell. “No two leaders are alike. What I want and see for my future is specifically attached to me.”
The Master of Science Educational Leadership program gives students space to develop their own leadership pathway, working back from their goals to build out their individual framework. Students are encouraged to “build, create or dream without limitations,” Dr. Mitchell said.
Because the program is constructed in this way, it can meet the needs of students from around the world.
“We may know what we need locally,” said Dr. Mitchell. “But globally, there are some different layers, often around resources and the acquisition of resources.”
How CBU embraces its international students and approaches education globally is among the university’s greatest and most enduring strengths, she said.
During a recent Introduction to Leadership class, Dr. Mitchell had students from four different continents, representing their home nations of Turkey, Ghana, the United States and Vietnam.
“The exchange of ideas was fascinating,” she said. “It was the greatest learning exchange I had ever seen. They came up with things I had never heard before. No one person has all the answers. The ultimate goal is for everyone to be successful, to move forward together and collectively learn from each other.”
Dr. Mitchell’s many local, state and national accolades and positions of influence include:
- National Equity Advocate Spotlight Award – Equity Alliance Center at Arizona State University
- EPIC Award – National New Leaders for New Schools
- Reward School Principal – Tennessee Department of Education
- Inclusionary Leadership Award – Tennessee Department of Education
- Top Voice in Educational Leadership – LinkedIn International
- Director of Discipleship Development – Ministry Leader
- National Leadership Team Member – She Loves Out Loud Women’s Ministry
- Nominee – Who’s Who Among Americans
- Vice President – CBU Faculty Assembly (2023-24 academic year)
Dr. Mitchell’s office is the Rosa Deal School of Arts.
