After graduating from Dunbar High school in 1989, Crawford-White, who grew up in Dayton, went on to Wright State University. She started off majoring in communications and journalism, which was a passion.
“I wanted to live in New York City, write newspaper columns and have a fabulous life,” Crawford-White said. “But I realized that wasn’t going to pay the bills.”
Crawford-White got married in 1994, after transferring to the University of Toledo. She met her husband to be in Dayton, and dropped out of college to get married, putting that part of her life on hold. She had three children — Zachary and twin daughters Zarina and Zarea.
In 2001, Crawford-White found herself a divorced mother of three young children. She started working at MetLife in Miamisburg and because they reimbursed college tuition, she finally was able to return to school, finishing with a bachelor’s degree in business and then completed her master’s degree in organizational leadership.
“It took some time because I was working and raising three kids on my own,” Crawford-White said. “I started dating my husband, Michael (White) and he came over and got to know my kids and watched them while I was at school.”
The couple married in 2008. Crawford-White knew her job at MetLife in customer service wasn’t going to work out long term, but she did like the aspect of solving problems and helping people.
“I’m a fixer,” Crawford-White said. “I like to motivate and push people.”
Focusing on colleges, Crawford-White began applying for jobs at local campuses. She spotted a business office manager job for Strayer University, which was moving into Ohio and opening a campus in Fairborn.
“They liked me even though my resume didn’t show that I could do the job,” Crawford-White said.
She was hired in 2010 after working 11 years at MetLife. The job was new and Crawford-White was apprehensive, but she soon found her way and settled in, working there for three years before moving on to Central State University as the bursar. She continued working for colleges, including the University of Dayton and Antioch University.
She returned to Central State in 2018 as the director of financial aid. In 2022, she was laid off from that job with a severance package lasting into 2023.
“I didn’t have any work to do and was getting paid, but I don ‘t find it easy just to sit and do nothing,” Crawford-White said.
Calling this her “adult gap year,” Crawford-White took a part time job with Montgomery County College Promise to keep herself busy. She instinctively knew from this job that she wanted to be involved with young people again.
“I got a call from a headhunter looking for a business development person for a new nonprofit,” Crawford-White said. “It didn’t sound like me, but it was helping young people, so I set up an appointment with the recruiter.”
“NPower” is a national nonprofit with a mission to empower young adults and military connected people to thrive in the technology space. Crawford-White said she loved everything she heard about the organization. During her interview, she discovered that the person in the position would end up creating and setting the tone for NPower in Dayton, with the primary audience being 18 – 26-year-olds.
“It felt very entrepreneurial and I was given an opportunity to create how the program would look in not only Dayton, but throughout Ohio,” Crawford-White said.
Crawford-White started with NPower as the executive director in September of 2023. While business development is certainly a part of her job, there is much more to it, including sharing the story of the organization, connecting students with jobs and fundraising.
“We are essentially a talent provider,” Crawford-White said. “We serve people who need jobs and companies who need good people. I don’t want them to feel like they are doing us a favor by hiring our talent but that we are giving them quality people for their jobs.”
In the past two years, NPower Dayton has seen 111 people finish their program and about 70% are employed in technology or technology adjacent roles. Even Crawford-White’s son, Zachary, went through the program, after discovering that the jobs he had been doing won’t likely exist in the next five years.
“Zachary said he had to find something else and he finished our program,” Crawford-White said. “He is my favorite success story.”
NPower’s program is 20 weeks long. Students not only learn important technology skills, but also professional development, which will help them excel in the workplace.
“We have so many success stories,” Crawford-White said. “I love seeing the transformation people go through right before my eyes. I want people to think of us as a choice after high school.
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