CYNTHIA POWELL is a humanist minister, conductor, organist, and advocate for the transformative power of music, ritual, and community. Ordained as a Minister of the Church of Humanism in 1981 after graduating from the Humanist Theological Seminary of NYC, she has spent more than four decades exploring how human beings create meaning, encounter one another, and mark the profound moments of life without reliance on supernatural belief.

For Powell, humanism is an affirmation of human dignity, intellectual freedom, compassion, and our responsibility to one another and to the world we share. Her ministry embraces the human capacity for wonder, love, ethical reflection, creativity, and transcendence through lived experience.

Music has been central to Powell’s humanist vision. A graduate of Westminster Choir College, she has had a distinguished career as a conductor and musical director, including founding and directing Melodia Women’s Choir of NYC and serving as Artistic Director of the Stonewall Chorale from 2002–2026.

Across both her ministry and musical work, Powell is committed to creating communities in which people can experience beauty, meaning, connection, and moral purpose. She has produced concerts and other events benefiting organizations including Bailey House, Doctors Without Borders, Pastors for Peace, and Water is Life, Kenya. For her, music and ministry share a common purpose: to help people recognize the extraordinary value of human life and our responsibility to one another.