Cynthia Gabriel, is easily recognized as a key advocate of human rights and good governance in Malaysia. She has spent most of her professional life in the field of advancing democratic freedoms, reforms and policy change in the country and region.
 
Academically well rounded, she has degrees in both the science and legal fraternities.  She has spent brief stints in the private sector, worked as a contractual lecturer in Monash University, and served and collaborated with several United Nations initiatives on research work in the field of democracy & human rights (OHCHR), governance, organized crime and anticorruption, (UNODC).

 She served on the international board as Vice President of the global human rights advocacy group, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), co -founded the Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM ASIA) human rights network, and is currently an elected board member of the UN Convention Against  Corruption (UNCAC) coalition, comprising about 400 organisations worldwide.  
 
Cynthia has extensive networks with the local and global media, and has been featured on prime time news and documentaries in the CNN, BBC World, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Al Jazeera, NY Times, Washington Post, to name a few, as a leading human rights advocate and whistleblower on corruption scandals involving Malaysia’s political leadership.  
 
She has together with senior civil society advocates founded a now leading policy advocacy centre since 2014known as the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) and is now its Executive Director.
 
Cynthia was also appointed as City Councilor, under the professional/ NGO categories from 2008- 2015. In the council she has led important committees on sustainable development, traffic and infrastructure and green city development, thus giving her tremendous experience in local government policy and administration.
 
Cynthia was recently conferred the prestigious democracy award by the National Endowment for Democracy for her brave activism and untiring contributions, at the United States Congress by Speaker Paul Ryan.
 
Cynthia’s untiring pursuits have been recognized, and with the monumental change that took place in GE14, May 2018, Cynthis has been appointed into the powerful 1MDB special committee by the Eminent Council of persons, as well as to the national council to develop an anti-corruption plan that will report directly to the Prime Minister.