NAME: Michelee “Shelly” Crawford

AGE: 39

PARTY AFFILIATION: nonpartisan

DAY JOB: School Principal and NV Air Force Guard

EDUCATION: Community College of Southern Nevada- AA Psychology; Sierra Nevada College- BA Teaching English as a Second Language; University of Nevada Las Vegas- MA Curriculum and Instruction; University of Phoenix- Literacy certificate; Georgetown University- Public Policy certificate; Current William Howard Taft University- Ed.D Leadership and Education Administration candidate

HOW LONG YOU HAVE LIVED IN NEVADA: 32 years

WRITE A BRIEF (TWO TO THREE SENTENCES) SUMMARY OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD ENABLE YOU TO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF THIS OFFICE: As a first generation student, spouse, and mother of Nevada college system recipients, I understand college programming. I was raised in foster care and had difficulty navigating the college system. I used that experience as a principal to guide my students through enrollment by creating nonpartisan state and federal legislation for access to learning with NV Senate Bill 352 and the federal broadband bill to ensure that every student has access to college and career programming.

WHAT IS YOUR TOP PRIORITY IF ELECTED?

My top priority when elected is restoring credibility to the board by building workforces for a safer community. We need nurses, teachers, and trades to create a prosperous society. I plan to do this with a strategic plan centered around connecting every single one of our high school seniors with college and career plans rooted in exposure, training, and access. As a region, I will be the first ever acting principal in this role that has unique insight and access to make this happen. I am driven, kind, and fair with a proven record of follow-through as shown through my Senate Bill 352 work.

IN JUST A FEW SENTENCES: WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FACING NEVADA’S SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION, AND HOW WOULD YOU FIX IT?

We need to fix the barriers of college access created from stakeholders, regents, and colleges working against one another. There are a lot of productive things happening within our institutions and I plan on amplifying those with consensus building. A few years ago, our institutions were not working collectively to hire teachers. I conducted a statewide survey for my doctoral research and identified over 2,000 potential students. I then brought together the deans of education from each institution to work collectively to remove barriers. In the end, I found that we all want the same things but we are working in silos. I was able to bring the institutions together to work collectively which resulted in credentialing over 300 teachers with several hundred in route to licensure.

IN ONE SENTENCE: WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING VOTERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOU?

My life’s work is to create opportunities for every Nevadan to pursue their college and career goals because our community will benefit mentally and financially when we have the tools to provide for our families and have access to a complete workforce.

YES OR NO: WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THIS ELECTION, WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE?

Yes