Founder/ C.E.O

Cynthia Moore was born to her mother Amarilis Jimenez-Martinez also known as "Maria," in Queens N.Y. When Cynthia was 14 years of age, after returning from a church retreat, her father invited her into the living room to watch the news. This is where she first learned that her mother was arrested in Brooklyn N.Y. as a school crossing guard for selling heroin.

The next morning, Maria was on the front cover of the NY Times; Cynthia rushed to school to plead with her teacher to avoid reading the current events that day. 

At the time of the arrest, Maria had been holding drugs for her boyfriend and was then held at Rikers Island pending her sentencing. After sometime, she was awarded probation. However, due to missing a court date, she was sent to prison and unfairly given a 50 years-to-life sentence. Sadly, she passed away from illness at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility serving only 10 years of that sentence. 

While in prison, Maria returned to her first love: cosmetology. Bedford Hills Correctional facility offers an accredited cosmetology trade program where incarcerated individuals can operate hair services on one another. Cynthia can recall as a young child going to work with her mother, hanging out at the salon, while all the laughter streamed through the place. It is there that she determined that she, too, wanted to be a hairdresser one day. 

Cynthia Moore is a decorated, established stylist who has truly taken the reigns in the cosmetology field. She has been in the cosmetology industry for 20+ years. At 18 years of age, she assisted management at a reputable Poughkeepsie salon; since then, she has obtained certifications including master cutting, curly hair knowledge, and currently sits on the advisory board for cosmetology at B.O.C.E.S Technical Center.

Cynthia considers herself blessed to have worked on many photoshoot sets and fashion shows, including the opportunity to lead the makeup team for a clothing designer at the NY Latino Fashion Week. Carrying employment as an educator for Cezanne, a keratin smoothing company for 4 years, she traveled around New York teaching many stylists in-salon. Creating a barber course personalized for cosmetologists, she inspired women to cut men's hair with precision. Since opening her first salon in 2010, she has trained many stylist who went on to obtain their success in owning their own businesses. 

Behind the Chair ministries was born when God gave Cynthia the vision to help women re-enter society by way of the cosmetology trade. Desiring to answer this purpose in her life and with the hope to help women understand that there is life beyond mistakes, Cynthia hopes that this will be a new beginning rewriting the narrative from "Behind The Chair."

What is our Mission?