Cynthia J. Mensendick, ASN, BSBA, MSN, PMP
Cynthia has lived in Blue Grass since 2016.
Her mother, a nurse and her father, an engineer. She grew up in Gladstone, a small country town outside of Portland, Oregon. She graduated from Gladstone High School in 1982 and started college, studying business and marketing.
She met and married her husband, Todd, in the 80’s, a sailor-firefighter on the USS Ranger. She followed in her husband’s footsteps, as well as those of her sister and two brothers, by joining the military herself. She joined the Air Force Reserves working in Drafting, Surveying, and Construction.
Cynthia worked in Engineering Publications for Goodyear Aerospace / Martin Marrietta, holding a Secret Special Access Clearance that allowed her to work on the, now de-classified, Blackbird SR-71 Project and other projects such as the Hard Missile Launcher and Military Mobile Shelters.
In the mid-1990’s, she decided to homeschool her children full time. She also taught Jr. Church and Sunday School at her Church, while also facilitating online writing classes within the AOL platform, in the early days of the internet. In the late 1990’s, Cynthia graduated from Concordia University with a BS in Business Management/Administration and Communications, achieving honors. She then went back to work as a project manager for engineer teams, building cell phone towers up and down the Pacific Coast for a subcontractor to Verizon and other mobile carriers. She also ran their advertising and marketing campaign for cell tower leasing.
It was during this time that she experienced a turning point in her life - as her father was disgnosed with Lung Cancer. The nurses made such an impression on her that she decided to go back to school to become a nurse. She graduated with her ASN in 2006 and then her MSN in 2009, also with honors. Cynthia is currently a Registered Nurse, with licenses in multiple states over the years that have included Arizona, Oregon, California, Iowa, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Massachusets. As she achieved her MSN, she ventured into Clinical Informatics and became a certified Project Manager (PMP), implementing the EMR and Continuous Process Improvement across healthcare systems in multiple states, healthcare systems, and facilities.
Their daughter, Malissa, and their son, Shawn, were born in the late 1980-90’s. Cynthia later worked in Marketing for an Oil Jobber streamlining their Daily Quoting Process that allowed quotes to go from a four-hour turnaround to under an hour. Efficiency was her goal allowing the quotes to arrive well ahead of the competition and increasing sales.
She has held multiple positions from CNIO, Nursing Director, Nursing Manager, and Program Manager on Clinical Improvement Projects across large and small healthcare systems, seeking to implement Evidence-based, Best Practices across all healthcare specialties. She has led well over 75 projects, ranging from small process improvement projects to multi-facility full-scale Electronic Medical Record Implemenations, leading complex multi-disciplinary teams.
Some of her specialty projects included the Iowa Covid Testing Tents with the Military escort in 2020 and joined a Medical-Surgical Mission Trip to Coya, Peru in 2019, running their small PACU with an organization out of Texas, called Texas de Peru. She is active in the LWML (Women’s Missions League) and VP of the Missions Committee at her church and a member of the Scott County Republican Women of Iowa.
She is currently works as a contractor as a Project Manager and/or Travel Nurse with her primary focus on the Midwest Region, so that she can stay close to her Blue Grass home, her husband of over 40 years, her grown children, and her Church Family.
She loves animals and has two cats, “Fatty” Edward and Shadow. She also has two German Shepherds, Jaegar and Allana. She has gone to advanced professional training with Jaegar, who cames from a special midwest breeder that raises Search-and-Rescue, Military, Police dogs, and/or Veteran Service dogs.
And now, she is seeking to represent you and our community from District 49 at the Iowa State Senate.
Come say hello and join me on this journey!
