Cynthia Miller Mustard
Non-profit organization executive
Columbia, Mo.
Community-minded, dedicated, actively engaged and caring are words that describe Cindy Mustard, BA ’65, executive director of the Voluntary Action Center (VAC), Columbia’s leading agency for information and referral. VAC also offers direct services such as transportation, medication, clothing, food and shelter, and provides community-wide volunteer coordination to engage more people in volunteerism. The Columbia Chamber of Commerce named the organization the Not-for-profit Small Business of the Year in 2000, and Mustard was named the Hazel Riback Volunteer Director of the Year in 2001. Actively involved in civic issues, Mustard served as co-chair of the Cultural Plan—A Blueprint for Action, which was instrumental in creating the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs in 1993. She also served on the Stephens Lake Advisory Task Force in 2000, the re-election campaign committee for Mayor Darwin Hindman in 2004 and 2007, and she served six years on a funding panel for the Missouri Arts Council. She also volunteers her time to help MU students; the students who live on Excellence Hall’s “Mustard Floor,” named in her honor, share a common interest in volunteer service. Members of the Mizzou Alumni Association, Mustard and her husband, Marvin, BS Ag ’72, have a daughter, Katie.