MEET
ERICA CRAWLEY
MEET
ERICA CRAWLEY
In 2007, Erica’s great-aunt had the audacity to ask her “why not you?”
While visiting her great-aunt in the hospital, (the same hospital where she donated her kidney to the same aunt exactly five years before) a conversation sparked about the upcoming presidential election and who we could count on to advocate for change. In that conversation, she would remind Erica of her life’s purpose by simply asking, “why not you?”. Growing up in Youngstown, Ohio in a single parent household with her mother, a college dropout, who was addicted to drugs. A father, a Vietnam Veteran, never went to college and suffered from addiction as well. Transitioning frequently, living with friends and relatives. With each move, Erica questioned why this was her life? And although her mother and father no longer lived the damaging lifestyle they once did, as a young adult, Erica spent a number of years trying to find an answer for or explanation of her past. From the day Erica last heard her aunt speak, she has spent her life trying to make a difference by serving others and giving people a voice—the voice, she initially thought, she did not have.
MOTHER. ADVOCATE. VETERAN.
Erica is a first-generation college graduate, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology with a focus on juvenile delinquency from Cleveland State University. She also holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Walden University. Rep. Crawley has spent much of her life making a difference by serving others and giving people a voice during her time in the U.S. Navy and her work advocating on behalf of children and families with the Cuyahoga County Job & Family Services, YMCA Head Start/Early Head Start Program, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA), and the Black Child Development Institute.
While attending Capital University Law School in pursuit of her dream of becoming an attorney, Rep. Crawley served as a Junior Fellow for the Family and Youth Law Center, 1L Representative and Day-Vice President of the Black Law Students Association, Co-President of the Health & Law Society, American Bar Association Representative (ABA) to the Student Bar Association, ABA Deputy Lt. Governor of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Programs (VITA) for the law student division and a member of Capital’s ABA National Moot Court Team.
Upon graduating from law school, Erica was awarded the 2017 Graduate of the Year for the Black Law Students Association, Capital University Law School Dean’s Ambassador Award and Order of the Barristers.
Erica is a member of the Columbus Bar Association, American Bar Association, Women Lawyers of Franklin County and the League of Women Voters.
Erica is the mother of twin girls. She enjoys spending time with them and traveling with family and friends. She collects books and is an avid reader. She also volunteers her time with many community organizations.