The Neutra Institute for Survival through Design is excited to welcome Cindy Olnick as its inaugural Executive Director, starting in January 2026. A highly accomplished preservation professional, Cindy brings a unique combination of experience, passion, and innovation to the Institute as we enter a new phase of growth and impact.
“Cindy will help propel the Institute into the future,” said Raymond Neutra, President of the Institute, “ensuring that my father’s legacy — as well as that of the other Neutras—continues to create positive outcomes for people and the planet.”
In addition to managing the operations of the Institute and its three historic properties, Cindy will leverage our existing programming in architectural history, neuroscience, psychology, and design; cultivate ongoing and new partnerships; and lead new efforts to sustain the organization for years to come.
Volunteers have led the Institute since Richard Neutra founded it in 1962. We have achieved much in recent years through the vision and hard work of our Board of Directors, efforts of our expert facilities team, input from advisors, and bequests of Dion Neutra, who passed in 2019.
With new partnerships and programming, as well as substantial preservation work on our Neutra-designed properties, the Institute is ready to expand our work and look toward the future. The Los Angeles fires in January also drove home the increasing urgency of our dual mission: to preserve the Neutra legacy and promote research-based design that serves people and the planet.
Cindy is uniquely suited to lead the Institute at this point in its evolution. A natural innovator, she has built a distinguished career blending her passion for historic preservation with her background in communications.
She developed and led the communications program for the Los Angeles Conservancy, one of the nation’s leading preservation nonprofits. She has consulted with architects, advocates, and organizations nationwide to help them define and convey their value. She currently serves as Associate Director of Heritage Conservation at the University of Southern California School of Architecture, for whom she co-created and co-hosts the award-winning podcast, Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation.
Her volunteer work includes serving as a board member and communications chair for the National Preservation Partners Network, which helps nonprofits across the US manage their organizations and advance the preservation movement. She also serves on the board of Photo Friends of the Los Angeles Public Library, for whom she wrote the book, L.A. Landmarks: Lost and Almost Lost (which includes the home Richard Neutra designed for director Josef von Sternberg).
For Cindy, working with the Neutra Institute is personal. After moving to Los Angeles in 2000 largely for its twentieth-century modernism, she and her husband settled in the Silver Lake neighborhood to live among its unrivaled collection of modernist homes. Within a few months, she was volunteering for Dion, helping him protect and celebrate his and his father’s work.
“My experience at the Neutra Institute helped launch my career in historic preservation,” shd said. “I’m thrilled—and consider it only fitting—to return now, using the extensive knowledge and experience I’ve gained since in service of the Institute.”
Cindy also has an affinity for Richard Neutra’s philosophical approach to design. “I’ve long been fascinated by the use of social and behavioral science in communications,” she says. “I’m equally fascinated by neuroscience and [Neutra’s concept of] biorealism and can’t wait to amplify this vital aspect of the Neutra legacy.”
Please join us in welcoming Cindy back to the Institute. We look forward to working with Cindy—and with you—to share the Neutra legacy.