Hello Everyone,
I have resigned as the Executive Director of Progressive Research & Training for Action (PRTA) and assumed the role of Senior Advisor/Consultant.
Elijah Clayton who has been the Associate Director of PRTA for the past eight years, is now the Acting Executive Director. I have worked at PRTA for eight years, and during that time I have had the opportunity to work with many of you on exciting ground breaking projects!
As the Executive Director of PRTA, it allowed me to live out my passion of developing projects that improved health access for marginalized and disenfranchised populations and groups in California. It also allowed me to work with several national LGBT organizations whose mission was to increase the visibility of the population, and to increase the competency of service providers in order to be better able to accommodate the needs of the LGBT communities.
In the last eight years I have been blessed to work with a group of LGBT Senior Service Provider who together, passed The Older Californian Equality and Protection Act. Aamending the Welfare and Institutions Act to add actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as other categories currently protected under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), to the list of factors that the Department of Aging and Area Agencies on Aging consider when assessing the need for state services and planning how to implement them.
It has also been my honor and privilege to serve as the Chair to the City of Oakland Mayor's Commission on Aging for the last three years. In that role I have interacted and been of service to hundreds of Seniors.
I am proud to have been a part of developing a community engagement process at PRTA entitled "Circles of Understanding" which inform, connect and engage people in a community driven participatory process that promotes and creates approaches for social change. This project was funded by the City of Oakland and implemented at the East Oakland Multipurpose Senior Center with amazing results!
Another project that I am extremely proud of is the Black Lesbian ElderSpeak Project which was collaboration between PRTA and several national and local organizations to conduct a national health assessment on the needs of Black Lesbians who were fifty-five and older.
I could go on but suffice it to say it has been a wonderful experience, but at sixty-two it is time for me to turn the reins over and pursue other adventures. Again, it has been a great journey, and I am sure I will see all of you as I travel down different roads.
Your community servant…
Brenda J. Crawford
About Brenda Crawford
Brenda CrawfordMs. Crawford has over thirty years of experience consulting in the field of technical assistance and organizational development. She currently holds memberships in several local and national networks of consulting organizations including the Bay Area Organizational Development Network, Professional Development for Consultants (PDC), and past member of the Bay Area Chapter of the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). Mrs. Crawford serves on the City of Oakland’s Commission on Aging and was recently honored by awarded the California Senior Leaders Award by UC Berkeley, School of Public Health and California Wellness.
Her accomplishments have been recognized by her induction into the Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame, a Congressional Certificate of Recognition For Outstanding Work in the Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Movement, and the National Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund Award for her work to elect more openly gay and lesbian public officials.
