AJ Crabill, Student Outcomes Evangelist
Raised in and out of foster care from birth until high school, AJ bounced around enough to have attended 11 schools prior to graduation. He attended urban, suburban and rural schools; private, public, and parochial schools; lived with white families and families of color; lived in racist communities and inclusive communities; experienced loving homes and homelessness. Guided by the idea that student outcomes don’t change until adult behaviors change and drawing on his intimate familiarity with the triumphs and terrors of America's safety nets for children, he has devoted much of his adult life to advocating for the well-being of our nation’s most vulnerable youth. AJ currently serves as the Conservator/Receiver for DeSoto Independent School District in DeSoto, TX, leads school board governance nationwide at the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) in Washington, DC, and is on faculty at the Leadership Institute of Nevada in Las Vegas, NV. Prior to his current work, AJ served on the board of the Kansas City (MO) Public Schools (KCPS), the board of the Missouri School Boards Association, the Policy Committee for the National School Boards Association, and recently as a Deputy Commissioner of Education at the Texas Education Agency.