Independent Researcher

Thesis Title: African American Women: Resistance & Resilience to Violence in Oakland

About

Ms Crystallee Crain is educator, writer, academic, activist and consultant.

She works as an adjunct faculty member at DeAnza College and the College of Alameda where she teaches Grassroots Democracy: Race, Politics and the American Promise, Grassroots Democracy: Social Movements 1960 to the Present,  American Government and Introduction to Sociology.

She is one of the working group members and the primary instructor for the Violence Prevention Certificate Program at the College of Alameda.

Crain has 10 years experience in multiple sectors and has had many successes in the leadership development and training world. She has worked as a freelance journalist, professor, activist, and trainer for organizations in California and across the nation. She was responsible for the creation of Heal the Streets, a violence prevention / youth leadership development program in Oakland, based at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. More recently she helped develop COMMIT (Community Leadership Institute), whose mission is to engage, educate, and model change through justice-seeking and accountable leadership practices focusing primarily on cultivating action and peace.

Crystallee is completing a Doctorate of Philosophy in Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

She holds a Master of Arts in Social Sciences (Sociology), and a Bachelors in Political Science. In January 2011 she received the Norman Lear Award from People for the American Way (Young People For).

A major theme is Crystallee's work is to support the individual and community promise of healing by translating pain into positive social change and people power. This is a testament to her own personal experience that has guided her spiritually.

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