“I’m a cheerleader wherever I go.” UC Berkeley alum Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall (BS ’81, Business Administration & Human Resources Management) has always been an optimist, long before she became SVP of human resources at AT&T and the first Black female CEO in the NBA. Growing up between Birmingham, Ala., and Richmond, Calif., she was shaped by faith, family, and belief “in lifting up the spirit,” she says. “That is just in my bones.” Known for transforming culture through values-driven leadership, Marshall has built her career on confronting hard truths without losing hope. At Berkeley, she found a stage big enough for her ambition. As the first Black cheerleader in the university’s history, she remembers arriving on campus and thinking, “I gotta be big now.” She chose Berkeley because it was “the number one institution in the world and still close to home.” The experience proved formative. Friends remember her focus, generosity, and unmistakable smile: “Everything that Cynt set off to...