Top Book Recommendations by Cynthia Marshall: Best Books for Success

Cynthia Marshall is the Dallas Mavericks CEO, widely recognized for her visionary leadership and ability to get things done. Prior, she had a 36-year career at AT&T in a leadership role focused on improving workplace culture and encouraging diversity/inclusion.

Marshall moved from Birmingham, Alabama, to California when she was three months old. Marshall was raised in Richmond, California, with three siblings. She describes her childhood as painful, growing up in public housing projects with a family struggling to pay the bills. When she was 11 years old, Cynt witnessed her father shoot a man in the head in self-defense. Then, in 1975, when Marshall was 15, her father broke her nose as she set out to save her mother from his domestic abuse. Her mother, Carolyn Gardener, was a high school executive administrator and resource librarian.

Marshall received a full scholarship to study business administration and human resources management at the University of California, Berkeley.[5][6] While studying at Berkeley, Marshall became the university's first black cheerleader. After graduating from university at 21, she worked as a supervisor at AT&T.

Marshall worked in executive roles at AT&T for 36 years, focusing on improving diversity and workplace behavior. She retired in 2017 and founded the consulting firm Managing Resources. While at AT&T, she became the first African American head of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce. In addition, mark Cuban hired Marshall following allegations claiming 20 years of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct within the Mavericks organization. Worth named Marshall one of the 21 Most Powerful Women in Sports Business.