BOSTON, MASS.- Cynthia A. Hallenbeck is joining the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as its new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

For the last two plus years, Hallenbeck was the Environmental Defense Fund’s first CFO.

Hallenbeck has 25-plus years of experience serving as Chief Financial Officer and/or Chief Operating Officer in the profit and nonprofit sectors. She has worked for blue chip financial services companies, including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Manufacturers Hanover Trust, as well as rapidly-growing nonprofit organizations. From 2002 to 2008, Hallenbeck held a variety of global positions at Citigroup with her last position being the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Global Legal Support. Prior to that, she had a long tenure at Merrill Lynch & Co. where she held numerous senior financial positions from 1987 to 2001.

Hallenbeck currently serves on several boards, including Walker & Dunlop Inc. (NYSE:WD),the Harvard Business School Women’s Association of NY, and the Wellspring Foundation. In addition she is a member of the Clinton Health Access Initiative Audit Committee.

Throughout her career, Hallenbeck has supported and mentored women. In 1992, she formed a volunteer support group for teenage homeless moms in conjunction with Mount Sinai Hospital, which is still in operation today. She was later recognized as a Woman of Valor for Outstanding Inspiration, Courage and Commitment to the Advancement of Women in the Community.

A Rochester, NY native, Hallenbeck graduated cum laude from Smith College with an economics degree. She also earned her master’s degree in business from Harvard Business School with Distinction. She has two grown daughters and now resides in Boston.