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Cynthia McClain-Hill

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Cynthia McClain-Hill
File:Cynthia McClain-Hill Headshot Photo.jpg
Attorney
Department of Water and Power Board Member
Personal details
Born
Cynthia McClain

(1957-11-10) November 10, 1957 (age 67)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
SpousePhilip Hill (1977–Present)
ChildrenMacKenzie McClain-Hill Gregory Hill
EducationUniversity of California Los Angeles (BA)
University of California Los Angeles (JD)

Cynthia McClain-Hill (born Cynthia McClain; November 10, 1957) is an American lawyer, policy strategist, and co-founder of Strategic Counsel, PLC. As the firm’s leader of regulatory, land use and environmental law practices, McClain-HIll is recognized as one of California’s “Super Lawyers”.[1] She provides advice to a wide range of policymakers while serving the Los Angeles community in multiple facets. As a member of the Department of Water and Power, Cynthia contributes to her community through a unique record of civic activities. [2]

Mrs. McClain-Hill has served on multiple public and private sector boards and regulatory commissions including the Department of Water and Power,  Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, California Coastal Commission, the California Fair Political Practices Commission, Community Redevelopment Agency Commission, and the CalEPA Environmental Justice Advisory Working Group. [3]

Early Life and Education

Cynthia was born on November 10, 1957 in Los Angeles, CA and is the oldest of three children with two younger siblings, Christine and Cheryl. Her parents, Harvey McClain of Waco, Texas and Matthew McClain from Oak Grove, Louisiana met while both were leaving in the Los Angeles area. Harvey was in the U.S. Navy and travelled on tours often, leaving McClain-Hill, her mother, and her sisters home in Orange County, California.

McClain-Hill graduated from Fountain Valley High School in 1974 at the age of 16. She attended the University of California Los Angeles, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts Political Science and completed her Juris Doctorate from UCLA's School of Law three years later. She was admitted to practice law in the State of California in 1981.[4] During her undergrad at UCLA, McClain-Hill was the Student Body President of her class in 1976.

Career

Cynthia McClain-Hill started her career at Fine Perzik and Friedman in 1982 specializing in corporate and commercial law. She continued her career at Federal Communications Commission in 1983 in the nation’s capital working in the Common Carrier Bureau. In 1987 McClain-Hill Returned to Los Angeles where she partnered with former ULCA professor Bill Davis, and formed Davis & Hill. In 1993 she took the position as Vice President in the Los Angeles office of New York based CS First Boston. Though, based in New York, McClain-Hill was splitting time between New York and her family in Los Angeles. (SOURCE)

In 1995 CS First Boston laid off its entire Public Finance Department. McClain-Hill being one of those employees laid off, used the opportunity to start her own practice, now known as Strategic Counsel, PLC. (Source). She calls this move in her life as her becoming an “accidental entrepreneur”.[5] “I always tell people that I was an accidental entrepreneur. I didn’t set out to be in business. I set out to do a particular thing and to have a particular career.” [6]

Prior to foundig Strategic Counsel, a Los Angeles based law firm uniquely blending legal expertise and litigation experience withdeep public policy insight and strategic communications capabilites. Mrs. McClain-Hill headed her own Los Angeles based law firm, McClain-Hill Associates, which gained a repution as the premier woman-owned law and strategic public policy development firm in the State of California. Since starting Strategic Counsel, PLC, McClain-Hill has been sought by a number of public-sector boards and commissions throughtout California. McClain was appointed to the City of Los Angeles' Community Redevelopment Agency Commission in 1993.[7]. She has worked in the Small and Local Business Advisory Commission, the Los Angeles Mayor's Economic Advisory Council, and appointed to the California Coastal Commission by former California Governor Gray Davis in March 1999. She was also, one of five co-chairs for his transition team after his election to office.

In an annual survey of more than 65,000 of her peers, McClain-Hill has been consistently named one of Southern California’s “Super Lawyers”, a distinction reserved for the top five percent of California’s practicing attorneys.[8]

File:Cynthia McClain-Hill, Johnnie Cochran, Mark Ridley-Thomas.jpg
Cynthia McClain-Hill, Johnnie Cochran, Honary Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley are pictured here in the home of Mr. Cochran

On August 3, 2016, McClain-Hill was sworn in as a member of the Los Angeles Police Commission after being nominated by Mayor Eric Garcetti [9] McClain-Hill is one of two black commissioners, as well as its third female member.[10] 2018

On August 16, 2018, McClain-Hill was confirmed into the Board of Commissioners of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power by the Los Angeles City Council. [11] As appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, she will serve a four-year term and replaced former Board Vice-President William W. Funderburk, Jr. [12]

File:Ava DuVernay showcases New Documentary ‘13th’ at Nate Holden Performing Arts Center.jpg
Cynthia McClain-Hill Esq. pictured with Areva Martin, Nipsey Hussle, (GUY IN MIDDLE) Ava DuVernay and Dr. Melina Abdullah at the showcase Documentary of ‘13th’ at Nate Holden Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles

Achievements and Awards

McClain-Hill has been featured in numerous publications and interviewed by leading television and radio shows. McClain-Hill has also recieved numerous awards and honors in recogntition of her exemplary business and civic leadership. is a recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration's "Women in Business Advocate Award." [13]

McClain was the 2008 - 2009 National President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). [14] She was also the former president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO-LA) '1999-2001 [15] Having been honored for her leadership in business and civic organizations, McClain-Hill has received the U.S. Small Business Administration's "Women in Business Advocate Award," the 2005 Chapter Public Policy Advocate of the Year Award" from NAWBO, the first annual "Ruth Standish Baldwin Award" from the Greater Sacramento Urban League, and the "Thurgood Marshall Award" from Minorities in Business Magazine. [16] In September 2007, she was featured in ESSENCE Magazine. [17]

  • Managing Director, McClain-Hill Associates, 1995 to present
  • Partner, Davis & Hill, 1987-1993
  • Senior Attorney, Federal Communications Commission, Tariffs Division, 1985-1987
  • Attorney, Federal Communications Commission, Mobile Services Division, 1983-1985
  • Associate Attorney, Fine, Perzik & Friedman, 1981-1982
  • Vice President, CS First Boston, Municipal Finance Department, 1993-1995
  • Analyst, "Sunday Morning Live," Canadian Broadcast Corporation, 1998
  • Analyst, “Fox News,” 1998 State of Union Address
  • Commentator, “20th Century with Mike Wallace”, A & E Network, 1997
  • Commentator, “CNN & Company”, CNN Network, 1997
  • Commentator, America’s Black Forum, 1997
  • Co-Host, KCET, Life & Times (various Broadcasts) 1996-1997
  • Commentator, KCET, Life & Times, Election Night Broadcast, 1996
  • Commentator, KTTV Television, Presidential State of the Union Address
  • Co-Host, KCET, Life & Times, Interview with Governor Pete Wilson, 1996
  • Commentator (weekly), Entertainment TV, O.J. Simpson Trial Coverage 1995
  • Commentator, Court TV, 1994 (Denny & Menendez Trials)
  • Commentator, Inside the Law, (ABA Pilot), 1994
  • Commentator, KCET, Life & Times, Election Night Broadcast, 1994
  • Commentator, CBS Nightwatch, 1992
  • Commentator, KCBS, Election Special, 1992
  • Commentator, KCBS Television, Election Night Broadcast, 1992
  • Panelist, Week in Review with Bill Rosendahl, Century Cable Television, 1992 to present
  • Panelist, Trial of the Decade, (Weekly analysis of Rodney King Trial)
  • Media Consultant, Los Angeles Festival, 1992
  • Media Consultant, Burke for Supervisor, 1992
  • Publisher, 'FOCUS 2000', political news quarterly (circulation 30,000), 1989-1992

Civic

  • President, National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) – LA, 2003/04
  • Member, Cal/EPA Advisory Committee on Environmental Justice, 2002 to present
  • Vice Chair, Board of Directors, National Health Foundation, 2000
  • Vice President Public Policy, National Association of Women Business Owners, 1999/2001
  • Member, California Coastal Commission (appointed by Gov. Gray Davis, March 1999) to present
  • Co-Chair, Governor-elect Gray Davis’ Transition Team, 1998
  • Member, Southern California Judicial Selection Task Force (impaneled by Governor Gray Davis, April 1999)
  • Member, Governor’s Task Force on Diversity (appointed by Governor Gray Davis, October 1999)
  • Member, Founders Board, UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, 1995
  • Commissioner, Community Redevelopment Agency, City of Los Angeles, 1993 - 1995
  • Commissioner, California Fair Political Practices Commission, 1993
  • Member, Planning Committee, LA Charter Reform, 1992
  • Member, Department of Insurance Anti-Discrimination Task Force, 1992
  • Member, Women’s Political Committee, 1991 - 1995
  • Member, Charter Amendment “H” Steering Committee, 1990 (established to promote the passage of an ethics reform initiative in the City of Los Angeles)

Articles/Publications

  • “City Cannot Be Run Like a Boardroom,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 1996
  • “A Legal Corps for the Poor,” California Bar Journal, Jan. 1995 (Co-authored with Assemblyman Louis Caldera)
  • “Making the Law Work for all Citizens,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 1994
  • “Its Not a Black Thing – or a White or Latino Thing,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 1992
  • “Who Will Replace Kenny Hahn?” Herald -Dispatch, April 1992
  • “Power to the People,” Harold-Dispatch, March 1992
  • Profile, “Executive Suite”, Upscale Magazine, July 1997
  • Profile, “Law Firm Branches to Capital City”, The Sacramento Observer, May 22-28, 1997
  • Profile, “Tradition and the Individual” Los Angeles Downtown News, Feb. 1994
  • Profile, “Banking on this Lawyer” Los Angeles Business Journal, Jan. 1994

Professional Memberships/Awards/Honors

  • “Thurgood Marshall Award” recipient, Minorities in Business Magazine 2003
  • Member of the Year, National Association of Women Business Owners, 2000
  • Commendation, California State Board of Equalization, 2000
  • Special Commendation for Community Service, County of Los Angeles, 2000
  • Certificate of Achievement and Excellence, Office of the California State Controller, 2000
  • Certificate of Recognition, California State Assembly, 2000
  • Certificate of Recognition, City of Los Angeles, 1995
  • Member, Black Women Lawyers
  • Member, National Association of Securities Professionals
  • Member, AFTRA

Personal Life

McClain-Hill is married to orthopedic surgeon, Philip Hill, since 1977. She has two children, daughter, MacKenzie McClain-Hill and son, Gregory Hill.

AND MORE PERSONAL LIFE NOTES (ABOUT HER CHARACTER, HER LIFE EXPERIENCES, QUOTES OR PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE HERE)

References

  1. ^ "The Strategic Counsel Team". The Strategic Counsel. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Welcome Commissioner Cynthia McClain-Hill". LADWP Intake Magazine. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Cynthia McClain-Hill". LinkedIn. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  4. ^ "CYNTHIA MCCLAIN HILL BIO" (PDF). UCLA Luskin. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  5. ^ "CynthiaMcClainHillRev" (PDF). Lorin Beller. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  6. ^ "CynthiaMcClainHillRev" (PDF). Lorin Beller. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  7. ^ "City Hall Can't Be Run Like a Boardroom : *Los Angeles: The flap over CRA appointees shows that Riordan still doesn't understand the need for consensus building". Los Angeles Times. Cynthia McClain-Hill. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Cynthia McClain-Hill Bio" (PDF). UCLA Luskin. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Black Attorney Takes Seat On Police Commission". Wave Newspapers. Anne Artley. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Garcetti nominates attorney Cynthia McClain-Hill to Police Commission". Los Angeles Times. Kate Mather. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Welcome Commissioner Cynthia McClain-Hill". LADWP Intake. Ellen Cheng. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Welcome Commissioner Cynthia McClain-Hill". LADWP Intake. Ellen Cheng. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Cynthia McClain-Hill Bio" (PDF). UCLA Luskin. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Welcome Commissioner Cynthia McClain-Hill". LADWP Intake. Ellen Cheng. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Cynthia McClain-Hill Bio" (PDF). UCLA Luskin. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Cynthia McClain-Hill Bio" (PDF). UCLA Luskin. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Cynthia McClain-Hill Bio" (PDF). UCLA Luskin. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
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