She began her career as a teacher after completing a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Hampton University, Hampton Virginia and a masters' degree in Education from Howard University, Washington, DC.  Jackie began to dedicate her efforts to youth and families, as a teacher in the District of Columbia Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, where she served as team leader in what was then the innovative concept of “team teaching in open-spaced classrooms” for second grade students. 

By 1980, Ms. Crawford had moved to New Jersey where she continued her interest in children and families. She gained New Jersey State Certification as a teacher of the handicapped, teacher of elementary school and teacher of nursery school.  After teaching elementary children with special needs for three years in the Newark, Ms. Crawford became convinced that she could make a difference in the lives of many of the children in the community if she could discover more ways of reaching families with children at preschool age.  She has devoted the rest of her career to this goal.

She served as Director of the North Jersey Community Health Center ’s Child Care Program for seven years providing early education, support services and mentoring to children, families and community. The rewarding experiences gained during this period inspired Jackie to seek opportunities to bring about change for this and other urban community residents from the State level.  For ten (10) years, she worked to effect policy and regulations in a number of positions in the Division of Youth and Family Services. She was Project Specialist to the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, and later, the Assistant Chief in the Bureau of Licensing for Child Care, where she implemented the licensure, training, and regulation of more than 1,000 early childcare programs, school age-programs and family day care homes. 

In 1996, Ms. Crawford returned to the community to serve as Child Care Director and Deputy Director for Program Operations at Babyland Family Services, Inc. in  Newark.  Here Ms. Crawford supervised the infant care, preschool and school age programs, services to families confronting domestic violence, homelessness, children in foster care, and an array of other social services to more than 1,400 families.  She assumed the leadership and operation of early education programs including an Early Head Start Program, a program designed to serve children and families affected by abuse and neglect, a model corporate supported preschool, and more than 250 children receiving education in the Newark and East Orange Public Schools Collaborative.  Ms. Crawford led six early educations to achieve the highest national accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Previous to her appointment at Newark Preschool Council, she served as the Director of the Essex County College Child Development Center.

Ms. Crawford’s service as a member of numerous organizations and working groups includes: the NJ State Child Care Advisory Council, the NJ State Child Care Policy Development Board, the Center for Non-Profits, and the immediate past Chairperson of the Early Childhood Coalition of Newark. She attributes her focus of the life and learning in part to continuing education opportunities, and particularly through the University of  Pennsylvania’s Executive Management Institute and the Annie E. Casey Families Count Training Institute.

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