Cindy Richards

Cindy Richards is a veteran Chicago reporter and full-time freelancer who has written a weekly commentary column for the Chicago Sun-Times and continues to write travel stories and general features for a number of different publications.

She spent 15 years on staff at the Sun-Times, first as a business reporter and then as a member of the editorial board. She also has worked as a metro reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Most recently, she was the senior editor and travel editor for Chicago Parent, named the best regional parenting magazine in the country two years in a row. Throughout her career, Richards has focused on writing about health care policy, social justice, education, work-life issues and women’s, children’s and family issues.

Richards has won numerous awards for her work:

• a Parenting Publications of America Gold Award for best travel story in a large-circulation magazine
• a Peter Lisagor award for a series of editorials on corrupt aldermen
• the James P. McQuire Award from the American Civil Liberties Union for a series of columns on abortion rights 
• a first place award from Northern Illinois University for a series on white collar unemployment.

While working as a business reporter for the Sun-Times, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of workplace issues.