Meet Cindy Winckler
Cindy Winckler is serving her first term in the Iowa Senate.
Cindy Winckler was born in Des Moines, Iowa. She moved to Davenport when she was young, and has continued to be a part of the Davenport community throughout her adult years. Public service has been a part of her family background. Her dad owned the snack bar at the Scott County Court House, through an agreement with the county and the disabled veterans’ organization. Her mother was a long-time deputy city clerk and city alderman.
She is a graduate of West High School in Davenport. She earned a BSE in Home Economics from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State) and her master’s degree in Educational Technology from the University of Northern Iowa. While earning her master’s degree, she received First Place in the UNI research award for her paper, “Building an Instructional Model for High Schools of the 21st Century.”
Cindy has been a family and consumer science teacher in small and large school districts in Iowa – Davis County, Pleasant Valley, Calamus and Davenport. She retired as a Quality Learning Consultant with the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency in Bettendorf and continues her work on education equity issues. In her capacity as a Quality Learning Consultant, she worked with teachers, administrators and school districts to plan and implement student achievement initiatives. Cindy was named to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in February 2000.
Cindy and her husband, Joe, have been married since 1973. They have two adult children, Joseph Bradley and Courtney Elizabeth. Her son, Joe, his wife Jennifer, and sons Alex and Jack reside in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Courtney and her husband Jeff and their children EJ, Haley, Meghan and Samuel reside in Bloomington, Illinois.
Cindy has been a member of Business and Professional Women for many years, and served as national president of that organization in 1994-95. She gained her passion for issues relating to civil rights, workplace equity, access to quality education and assuring that quality healthcare is available to everyone through the legislative initiatives of this bipartisan organization.
She has received the Legislator of the Year twice for the Area 9 Counseling Association. Cindy was named a national Flemming Fellow, class of 2003, and participated in the Council of State Government Midwest Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development program during the summer of 2004. Cindy was recognized by the Iowa Library Association as an outstanding leader, receiving the Ted Anderson Advocacy Award in 2007. She was also recognized for her significant contributions to the profession of nursing and the healthcare of Iowans with the 2007 Friend of Nursing award, and received the Advocacy award from the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences – Iowa Affiliate 2013 Public Service award. . She has served as Chair of the Midwestern Legislative Conference Innovations Selection Committee and as a member of the Education committee with the National Conference of State Legislatures. Cindy was a member of the Leadership Partnership with School Administrators of Iowa, the Department of Education Advisory Board for the University of Northern Iowa, and the Scott County Kids Early Iowa Board. In May of 2021, she received the 2021 Political Friend of Education Award from the Iowa Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. On July16. 2021, she received The Iowa Delta Social Action Trailblazer Award from the Davenport Alum Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Cindy is currently serving as a commissioner on the Education Commission of the States. She is a member of the Davenport Schools Network for Community and School Partnerships.