Rev. Cynthia Parnell McDonald, PhD, is a pastor, educator, researcher, and leadership strategist whose work centers on how faith leaders and institutions thrive through leadership formation, pastoral imagination, and sustainable innovation. For over two decades, she has been committed to strengthening Black faith leaders, congregations, and theological institutions, cultivating the vision, capacity, and collaborative partnerships needed to navigate change and build thriving futures.
Currently, she serves as Pastor of Cosmopolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Alongside her pastoral work, she has held roles in theological and higher education as a professor, mentor, researcher, and leadership developer, equipping current and emerging leaders for effective ministry in an increasingly complex world.
As Executive Director of the SHIFT Leadership Network, a Lilly Endowment–funded initiative, McDonald leads one of the field’s foremost laboratories for clergy flourishing, leadership development, and institutional sustainability within the Black Church. Under her direction, SHIFT has engaged hundreds of clergy across Georgia through mentoring, coaching, continuing education, peer learning, and wellness initiatives that strengthen pastoral leadership and congregational vitality. In this role, she has secured over $8 million in grant funding and built strategic partnerships across denominations, seminaries, universities, foundations, and community organizations.
A scholar practitioner, her research explores the intersection of pastoral imagination, clergy renewal, and institutional sustainability. Her direct engagement with clergy across the state of Georgia and clergy cohorts throughout the country has surfaced the critical role pastoral imagination plays in helping leaders navigate complexity, reimagine ministry, and build resilient institutions, moving clergy and congregations beyond survival toward genuine renewal.
By temperament and practice, she is a bridge builder, creating collaborative pathways linking churches, theological schools, philanthropic organizations, and community partners — pathways that drive leadership development, institutional growth, and community transformation. Her work informs a growing national conversation on the future of Black theological education, clergy formation, and the capacity of faith communities to meet emerging social challenges with creativity and faith.
Her interdisciplinary academic foundation includes an earned PhD in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, alongside degrees in speech communication and student personnel administration, a foundation that shapes her integration of scholarship, leadership practice, and ministry innovation.