Cynthia Osborne is a Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development. She is also the founder and executive director of the national Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, an academic research center that translates research on state policies with demonstrated effectiveness at creating the conditions in which young children and their families can thrive into policy actions states can adopt.

Previously, she served as the Director of the Center for Health and Social Policy as well as the Child and Family Research Partnership at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Osborne holds a Ph.D. in demography and public affairs from Princeton University, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Master of Arts in education from Claremont Graduate University.