Our Guest Speaker
LYDIA CINCORE-TEMPLETON, ESQ.
“The Characteristics of a Good Mother”
Lydia Cincore-Templeton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a United Methodist Missionary and Children’s Rights Attorney who has spent the past 25 years serving children. As a Missionary, she spent years on the continent of Africa serving orphans and families left as refugees as a result of two civil wars. As a Country Manager in Africa, she coordinated the humanitarian response of the United Methodist Church to the Hutu Tutsi Conflict in Rwanda and the Civil War in Liberia. In these roles, she developed educational and housing projects for refugees. As an attorney, Ms. Cincore-Templeton worked at the largest pro bono law firm in the country serving children and families living in poverty.
Ms. Cincore-Templeton’s dedication to helping the underserved has been manifested in caring positions such as missionary, pro bono attorney, director and educator working with youth directly impacted by injustices and oppression. She is currently the Director of the Children Youth and Family Collaborative (CYFC) in Los Angeles, California. She founded the agency with her savings in 1993 and worked without compensation until 2011 to prevent foster youth from experiencing the negative outcomes associated with emancipation and low academic achievement, including school drop-out, incarceration, unemployment and homelessness. She provides educational and support services to foster youth. The agency began with one volunteer employee, working at one site with an $18,000 budget and now serves over 2000 foster youth annually. The agency is the recipient of the prestigious Innovation Grant from the Obama Administration, which included a 3.5 million dollar grant. In addition, this organization has received grants from Bill and Melinda Gates and the Annenberg Foundations. Lydia is a true community servant. She has received awards, including the Makers Recognition which is a national honor bestowed on women like Oprah Winfrey, Marian Wright Edelman, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner and other great women making notable contributions in our country. Recently, she received the Trailblazer Award from First AME. Lydia has served by sacrificing and selflessly committing to seeking justice for vulnerable and voiceless children, not only here in the United States, but in Africa. Her lifelong aspiration has been to level the playing field for youth in foster care and youth living in poverty, so that they are equipped to compete fairly with their peers
She is a member of Holman, married to Joseph Templeton, Esq. and is the daughter of Vera R. Cincore and the late Sterling Cincore, Sr., and sister of Verdelia R. Cincore, M.D, and Sterling Cincore, Jr.
