Cynthia Ahlquist

Editing • Content Design • Knowledge Management

Optimizing Content with Systems Thinking

Content, well managed, lives in an interdependent ecosystem. Changing one piece of the system affects the whole. A healthy content ecosystem requires well organized, cohesive, and accessible content supported by effective and consistent processes and internal knowledge bases that help creators build within the ecosystem, not outside it.

I’ve spent more than 20 years using systems thinking to help organizations craft and edit language and optimize how it’s presented while building knowledge bases, guides, and procedures that take the whole content ecosystem into account.

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About
Portfolio

What I Do

An orange cat standing on a copy of the American Psychological Association style manual

Editing and Writing

Thoughtful, effective editing plus copy and UX writing

Details
Section of a site tree with a note on a sticky asking if a section should be broken up. Someone typed "ok" on the sticky.

Content Design and Management

Planning, creating, optimizing, and managing content

Details
Text and graphic showing layers of continuity to consider when editing a marketing piece. Layers are Document, Program, Audience, Type, and Context

Knowledge Management

Systemic content processes and knowledge bases

Details

I’d like to work with you.

cynthia.ahlquist@gmail.com

“Innate understanding”

“Her remarkable talent for editing extends far beyond technical skills—she has an innate understanding of how to shape content that delivers a simple, seamless, and excellent user experience throughout the entire journey.” —Marcia Crowell, Program & Product Manager

“Thoughtful, insightful, and highly collaborative”

“Cynthia is a joy to work with. She is thoughtful, insightful, and highly collaborative. She elevates every project she touches, not just through her keen editorial eye but through her ability to guide teams toward stronger, more effective finished projects.”  —LaShuna McBride, Strategist & Chief of Staff

“Grammatical disturbance”

“I think Cynthia Ahlquist can feel grammatical disturbances like Obi-Wan does with the Force.” —Allison Amy Wedell, Writer & Graphic Designer