Last October, six National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employees were recognized at the annual Women of Color in STEM Conference in Detroit, Michigan.

One of the NOAA nominees for the 2020 Women of Color STEM Awards is Ms. Cindy Woods (not shown). She is an Operations Division Chief at the National Weather Service (NWS) of NOAA. Woods has served in roles from forecaster to division chief, and when called upon served in dual roles by managing two divisions within the NWS headquarters office.

She has a passion for ensuring that the NWS is performing and meeting requirements with excellence. Outside of her daily responsibilities, she dedicates her time to the development of her subordinates and the next generation of scientists.

In his nomination letter to the Women of Color STEM Conference, Benjamin Friedman, the deputy undersecretary for operations at NOAA, wrote: “Ms. Woods has demonstrated sustained commitment and dedication to supporting NOAA’s mission of providing weather information and guidance to the public, our partners, and leadership to save lives and property across our nation over the past three decades, and she is eminently deserving of this award."

Woods currently oversees the National Operations Center and the Performance Brand. She is responsible for coordinating high level leadership and support to 122 weather forecast offices, 21 center weather service units, 19 river forecast offices, and 6 regional operations centers across the country.

She also served as the NOAA Office of Education National Center for Atmospheric Sciences Technical Monitor to develop and advance collaboration with minority-serving institutions.