Today we’d like to introduce you to Cynthia Crawford. Them and their team share their story with us below:
The Crawford Foundation was started in memory of Gerald D. Crawford and at the will of his mother, Mrs. Cynthia Crawford. Gerald was the only child born to Greg and Cynthia Crawford. He grew up in southwest Atlanta and was educated in Atlanta Public Schools, where he attended Gerald Middle School and graduated from Grady High School in 2009. Gerald earned a band scholarship to his Alma Mater, Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL. While in Alabama, Gerald developed a reputation of friendship and service as a member of the Blue Pride Marching Tigers and pledging the Rho Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi. Gerald was well-known between Tuscaloosa and Atlanta communities; furthermore, after graduating from Stillman in 2013, he eventually directed his journey to Tampa, FL in 2015 for law school.
It had been Gerald’s dream to become a lawyer since his childhood. Gerald fiercely walked his dream down to where he had graduated law school and just needed to jump that last hoop of passing the Georgia state bar. In September 2020, just over a week before he was scheduled to take the bar exam and just over a week after his birthday, Gerald was the victim of a tragic accident at his home in SW Atlanta caused by a tree during an intense storm. The city of Atlanta will not recognize or proclaim any responsibility for the lack of maintenance that perhaps could have prevented the accident. Despite that, Mrs. Crawford, even in her early grief stage, strongly declared that she wanted her son’s memory and life to serve Atlanta and provide access to college for underrepresented youth in the Greater Atlanta area.
She charged one of Gerald’s close friends, and line brothers, Austin McDonald, to serve as a co-founder and Chairman for what was then just an idea of a foundation. Fast-forward to almost two years later, the Gerald D. Crawford Foundation operates through twenty volunteer board members that are a collective of his family, childhood friends, community partners, classmates, and church members. The foundation board has been productive in fundraising and community service. The foundation has provided holiday meals for families, hosted community events, and most saliently awarded scholarships to the first recipients this summer. We are a non-profit organization and our budget operates 100% off of community and foundation board donations. We have been able to raise over $18,000 in our first year, in which the majority of this came from community members and foundation board members during our 1st Annual Scholarship Fundraiser and Gala in September 2021. The foundation’s expectations and goals will grow each year as we expect to perform even better at our upcoming 2nd Annual Scholarship Fundraiser and Gala in September 2022.
Mrs. Crawford aspires for this foundation to continue its growth and presence in the community. The long-term plan for the foundation is to activate generational wealth through providing college access with our scholarship fund. We also aspire to be a co-curricular resource for our recipients, helping them through college with mentoring, career coaching, and internship opportunities. The most important driver for the foundation is the namesake, Mr. Gerald Crawford; we want to perpetuate his life goals by modeling his level of work ethic, attaining the resources necessary to provide opportunities to Atlanta teenagers.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, mostly because this is a profound non-profit venture that we had taken on in the midst of grieving Gerald. Starting a non-profit can be tedious and identifying a solid group of board members requires care and great thought. However, Gerald had his hands in many different friends and family groups; and the foundation board is loaded with professionals and leaders of capable and transferrable skills benefitting the foundation. As I stated before, this journey started during heavy grief, and we still are grieving; one particular challenge that may always stand is the emotional piece. As a foundation, we work well together, but we do find ourselves overwhelmed with emotions and passion in moments of success and in moments of challenge.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Mrs. Cynthia Crawford is a retired Atlanta Public Schools employee. She has worked in administrative/clerical roles at different schools throughout her career. What sets Mrs. Crawford’s apart from others is her patience, love, and intelligence. She is super proud of her son Gerald and his friends who have grown into successful careers; and she is especially proud of Gerald’s friends, that continue to involve her in their life endeavors.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Building relationships is the term. Mentoring/networking sounds good in those high professional etiquette settings but I’ve learned over time that others will not remember you, nor do for you if they do not KNOW who you are as a person. Resumes and business cards are just tools to help build relationships, but authentic relationships are what sets your network up.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gdcfserves.org
- Instagram: @gdcfserves
- Facebook: Gerald D. Crawford Foundation
Image Credits
Erin Thomas, Gerald D. Crawford Foundation
