Cindy Friedemann

President

3-year term ending September 2024

Named by the Journal Record among Oklahoma’s College Presidents and Education Leaders as one of 25 members of The Journal Record’s Power 2021 in Education, Cindy Friedemann specializes in strategic and tactical planning for one of Oklahoma’s most diverse Career Techs in the state of Oklahoma. She believes in creativity in all areas of life and in the power of love!
She leads diverse teams to design partnerships for economic growth; building lasting relationships between education, business and civic partners. A native of Florida, graduating from William Woods University and Oklahoma State, Cindy also received advanced training towards an MFA from TWU and certifications from Georgetown and Harvard. She has presented at national conferences to include the National School Boards Association, Association for Career and Technical Education, the Oklahoma State School Boards Association and the National Council of Local Administrators.

Cindy believes that an individual’s ability to attain literacy and achieve an education and a technical skill is the fastest and most direct route out of poverty. It is incumbent that Career and Technical educators partner with employers to develop great employees from diverse backgrounds. Equally important, she believes that we must create inclusive opportunities for individuals who desire to improve their lives through meaningful careers. Cindy derives joy in leading teams achieve this goal efficiently.

From working in a state agency think tank as a strategist, to leading Francis Tuttle’s growth into the Edmond market, Cindy held a variety of assignments since moving to Oklahoma. During her tenure on the Executive leadership team at Metro Tech, she led the Economic and Workforce Development Team, the Marketing and Media Communications Team, the Apprenticeships and Special Populations services teams, and supervised the Diversity, Inclusion Culture and Equality team; taking on additional critical responsibilities serving as the district PIO through COVID. Recent projects include:

Working closely with the support of the Metro Tech Board of Education to found the successful Downtown Business Campus and relocate it to the Corporate Tower.
With the support of her Superintendent, she led teams that completed a comprehensive brand study and developed a rebranding strategies to encompass all mediums of internal and external communication: social and digital media, photography and graphic images to better reflect the most culturally diverse technology center in the state of Oklahoma.
Led crossfunctional study teams that involved district leaders, architects, interior designers, industry partners and faculty to create Centers of Excellence in order to establish new standards for the district in communication, design, partnerships, facility maintenance and instruction.
Supported a longstanding partnership with a growing film industry in Oklahoma. Traveling with key legislators and Film & Music Industry leaders to study the economic impact of Georgia Film Industry. Ms. Friedemann started a 9 year partnership with deadCenter Film Festival, supporting the Metro Tech Faculty and team that annually hosts a statewide program for 60 – 80 high school students at Metro Tech; deadCenter University.

Bringing a business sensibility to her work in CareerTech education, Cindy’s prior business experiences include management, community development and design positions in St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta and Washington, DC. With a background in research-based product growth strategies, while working in Atlanta, Cindy provided statistical market analysis for major corporate clients including CNN, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Time, Newsweek, NPR, Burger King, Arby’s, No-Nonsense and Texize.

A Leadership Oklahoma graduate, Cindy served as Chair of The Oklahoma Venture Forum, founding Chair of the Center for Municipal Excellence, President of the Stillwater Junior Service League, ED of the Metro Tech Foundation, National Secretary for United for Libraries, Chaired the Annual Omelette party for the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and was a member of the Metropolitan Library Commission for 13 years. Currently Cindy is incoming National President for her professional organization, The National Council of Local Administrators and Treasurer on the Executive state board for Oklahoma Humanities. Additionally she serves on the Creative Oklahoma BOD and as PR chair for the Oklahoma City Boat Club.

In 2015, she received the Legacy Award from the Single Parent Support Network and in 2021 was inducted into the The Journal Record’s Woman Making a Difference Circle of Excellence.

An avid sailor since age seven, Cindy competitively races on Lake Hefner and was selected for the stunt team in William H. Macy’s movie, Rudderless, filmed in Oklahoma. Cindy also enjoys gardening, painting and time with her family. She is member of St. Paul’s Lutheran, she and her husband Tom have four beloved children.