SEC's Chief Diversity Official Ronald L. Crawford to Retire after 31 Years at SEC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-140

Washington, D.C., July 1, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Ronald L. Crawford, the SEC's first chief diversity official, is retiring from public service this week after 31 years at the SEC.

Mr. Crawford, a senior officer, was appointed Chief Counsel for Diversity and Policy Initiatives in July 2009. He has been responsible for planning and developing programs and initiatives that would implement the SEC's diversity policy, execute the SEC's strategic goals on diversity, and support the SEC's equal employment opportunity mission.

Mr. Crawford has worked on several projects, collaborating with other SEC staff to develop an executive leadership program, coordinating the activities of a diversity council planning group, serving on several special emphasis committees, participating in a number of major recruiting events, and promoting the SEC's first student shadowing program. He participated on three federal interagency committees that are coordinating and designing the new statutorily mandated diversity and gender inclusion compliance measures for the securities and financial industries. In this role, Mr. Crawford served as a key leader preparing for the eventual establishment of the SEC's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion under Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

"As the first person to serve as the Chief Counsel for Diversity and Policy Initiatives at the SEC, Ron has done an outstanding job of establishing the concept and demonstrating the value this position can contribute to the agency," said Jeff Risinger, the Chief Human Capital Officer at the SEC. "The Dodd-Frank Act created the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at each of the financial regulators, which in many ways reflects the work that Ron established long before this idea was federal law."

Mr. Crawford has been a frequent panelist and speaker before bar associations, law schools, and professional groups on such topics as diversity, implementation of Section 342, securities law practice, and what the SEC is doing to become an "Employer of Choice." During 2010 and 2011, Mr. Crawford was an adjunct professor of law at Howard University's School of Law and was instrumental in connecting the SEC staff with the School of Law community of students, faculty, and administrators.

Prior to his appointment as the SEC's senior diversity official, Mr. Crawford was the senior associate regional director for the SEC's Atlanta Regional Office and had supervisory responsibilities for enforcement, examinations, bankruptcy, and information technology programs. He began his career at the SEC in 1980 as a staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement and served in three regional offices. During his assignments in the Enforcement Division, he supervised and played an important role in the resolution of numerous high-profile enforcement cases. While serving as a branch chief in the Philadelphia Regional Office, Mr. Crawford taught corporate law as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business from 1985 to 1987.

"I have had the privilege of first working on the SEC's primary mission of investor protection and then having an opportunity to lead the SEC in addressing the emerging diversity issues now facing most government and private organizations," Mr. Crawford said. "I wanted to leave the SEC well-positioned to be in the vanguard of federal agencies operating in this arena. The investments that the SEC has made in strengthening diversity and inclusion are complex and critical to mission success."

Prior to joining the SEC staff, Mr. Crawford was a member of the faculty at St. John's University, where he was an assistant academic dean and the director and founder of the Institute of Ethnic and Urban Affairs. Mr. Crawford received his JD from Columbia University's School of Law, a BA in mathematics from the University of Bridgeport, an MA in mathematics education from Colgate University, and a M.Ed. and Ed.D. in educational administration from Columbia University's Teachers College, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow.

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http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2011/2011-140.htm