Cristal Balis

In her role, Cristal is responsible for leading marketing and growth initiatives that will expand the reach, engagement and impact of The Emancipator platform. She brings more than 15 years experience in marketing communications, event production and nonprofit fundraising to the position, including work for The Walt Disney Company, Starcom Mediavest Group, The University of Chicago, Leo Burnett and Howard Brown Health Center.

Cristal graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism and received her master of instructional leadership from the University of Illinois Chicago. While in graduate school, she co-authored a chapter of Dr. Mark Smylie’s book Continuous School Improvement to help schools with limited resources build capacity and drive organizational change. Her perspective and passion for racial justice was strongly influenced by her time teaching in Chicago Public Schools, where she experienced the inequities of public education firsthand.

Among her favorite memories is that time she got to spend an entire day at the “Sister Act 2” press junket serving as the press handler for a young, “up-and-comer” by the name of Lauryn Hill (pre-Fugees fame). She sang the entire day.

Cristal lives in the Boston area with her wife, their twin middle schoolers and two very demanding cats.

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