HONOREE EXCELLENCE IN ADVOCACY AWARD

Crystal D. Crawford Executive Director, Western Center on Law & Poverty

A seasoned leader in the legal, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, Crawford has played a pivotal role in advancing the health and economic security of low-income Californians, women of color and communities of color. In 2013, she was appointed to the five-member Los Angeles County Public Health Commission and currently serves as its Vice-Chairperson. As President & Executive Director of the Western Center on Law & Poverty (WCLP), she leads a trailblazing legal and advocacy organization and is honored to stand on the shoulders of her predecessors, including co-founder and past Executive Director Professor Derrick Bell. WCLP is a nationally recognized leader in fighting poverty which brings about systemic and structural change through litigation, legislative, policy and administrative advocacy at the local, state and federal level.

Before she was Western Center’s Executive Director, Crawford was a program director at The California Wellness Foundation, where she developed and led the organization’s groundbreaking Women’s Initiatives, a multi-million dollar program that amplified the voices of women of color and provided philanthropy and policymakers with a vision for how to advance the health and economic security of women of color. She also helmed Cal Wellness’ legacy portfolio, Increasing Diversity in the Health Professions, which has supported community-based organizations, academic institutions and countless people of color pursuing and sustaining health professions careers. Prior to leaving the foundation, she helmed the development of the Leading for Power and Change portfolio which was created to amplify the voices, leadership and power of people of color.

Prior to her work with Cal Wellness, Crawford was CEO of the California Black Women’s Health Project, the only statewide organization solely devoted to improving the health of California’s Black women and girls through policy, advocacy, education and outreach. She began her post-collegiate career as a public school teacher in Harlem. As a former board member of many national, state and local organizations (including the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth and Funders Concerned About AIDS) and a current board member of the California Association of Nonprofits, California Budget and Policy Center, Health Access California, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Grand Performances, the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Foundation and other organizations, Crawford has further honed her advocacy, community engagement and management skills and expertise.

In 2009, Crawford was honored to receive the Advocates’ Award from WCLP in recognition of her community engagement, policy and advocacy work with the California Black Women’s Health Project. She has been a grateful recipient of numerous other awards over the years, including the 2012 PowerPAC Award from the Los Angeles African American Women’s Political Action Committee, the 2015 Outstanding Women of the City Club Award, and the 2023 Woman of Distinction Award from the NYU Law School’s Women of Color Collective. She is also grateful to recently have received a Trailblazer Award from two different organizations, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles and the California Black Women’s Collective.

Originally from Harlem, New York and Teaneck, New Jersey, Crawford earned her bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College and law degree from the New York University School of Law, where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow, Chairperson of the Black Allied Law Student Association and served on the editorial staff of the Journal of International Law & Politics. She is admitted to the bar in California, New York, and New Jersey.

THE CRAWFORD/DAVIS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

FUND is proud to support the BLACK WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES FOUNDATION. Congratulations to TABITHA BROWN, CRYSTAL CRAWFORD, AMBER FINCH, SOCIAL JUSTICE LEARNING INSTITUTE and the scholarship recipients on their well-deserved recognition.

We salute the honorees in the name of our beloved trailblazer

Vernita Evelyn Crawford

our angel who is rejoicing in heaven.