Edward Crawford
| Edward Crawford | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward J. Crawford IV |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 🏫 Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 🎓 Alma mater | MBA |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Entrepreneur & Public Service |
Edward J. Crawford is an American entrepreneur, investor, and a decorated Afghan veteran. He served in Operation Enduring Freedom as a US Navy intelligence officer, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
Crawford served as a Vice President for Goldman Sachs, before forming Coltala Holdings in recent years. He has also had a number of political roles, showing support for Jeb Bush and forming a number of Super PACs, which have aided veterans and military personnel running for office.
Finally, Crawford has also served in the Peace Corps, notably alongside Joe Kennedy in the Caribbean. He also won awards for his help following Hurricane Katrina, assisting with the rebuilding of Samuel J Green Charter School.
Early life[edit]
Crawford's education includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, Tulane University and Texas Christian University.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Christian University, an MA, MGM, and MBA from Tulane University, as Morton A. Aldrich and FLAS Fellow (Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship), he was awarded the Dean's Service Award and Young Alumnus of the Year. Crawford was awarded an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, where he was an MIT Sloan Leadership Fellow.
Goldman Sachs & Investing[edit]
In 2003, Crawford launched CooCafeSur, a coffee co-operative in the Caribbean, which now has over 250 people. Crawford secured a role at Goldman Sachs after working in aid relief for a number of years. He worked at Goldman for a total of seven years, where he held the role of Vice President. Following his time at Goldman Sachs, Crawford helped build Avesta, which later became InvestRes and Trustwork.[1]
Crawford's role is currently at Coltala Holdings, as its President and co-founder. According to an interview with D Magazine, Crawford and his co-founder Ralph Manning aim to buy controlling stakes in businesses with an EBITDA of up to $10 million.[2] Crawford suggested these acquisitions would likely be of private or family ran businesses. Following the formation of Coltala, a number of notable hires joined the company, including Chuck Jarvie of Procter & Gamble & Dr. Pepper, Darrell Bevelhymer of Tenaska Inc., Christine Spadafor from Boston Consulting Group and Damon Baker of Danaher Corporation.
Coltala differs from other private equity firms as they deploy the Conscious Capitalism theory (Conscious business) to investing. As part of this model, it was suggested that they would hold onto companies a lot longer than traditional portfolios.[3]
Military service[edit]
Crawford began his military career as a US Naval Intelligence Officer. He served in Latin America, where he was an Intelligence Office and parachutist for the US Navy, serving in Guatemala. Following the 9/11 attacks he and many other navy personnel were assigned to the Middle East as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He served in Afghanistan where he was part of the United States Special Operations Command.
Crawford by this stage in his military career had reached the level of Lieutenant and played a vital role in the US engagement with the local people and leading Taliban personnel while on operation in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, he served as intelligence support to SEAL Teams 2 and 4, based out of Little Creek, Virginia. His tribal engagement with The Taliban was hugely influential for Special Operations missions in both Zabul and Uruzgan provinces of Afghanistan, the Taliban's two founding provinces.
In late 2012, SEAL team 4 lost their commanding officer to suicide while the Team was serving in Afghanistan. Crawford and other senior strategic personnel had to, therefore, increase their responsibilities while executing missions during this troubling period for the US Navy SEALs. His work as an Intelligence Officer in Afghanistan during this period, led him to be a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal. During the presentation of his medal, his ranking officer stated "the Team’s professionalism and focus allowed the mission to continue."[4]
Public service[edit]
After graduating from Texas Christian University, Crawford joined the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps already had an established base in the Dominican Republic, helping farmers to improve yields and also become more sustainable. As part of the Community Economic Development sector in the country, Crawford founded a small coffee cooperative. The cooperative started with four members mainly from a coffee farming background.
By the end of his Peace Corps role, Crawford had expanded the cooperative knowns as CoopCafeSur to over 200 members from across the Dominican Republic. The cooperative had more selling power to US-based coffee buyers. While in the country, he served alongside the current congressman Joe Kennedy III.[5] He and Kennedy often worked closely, as they were training classmates of Peace Corps DR and both worked on rural projects.[6] Crawford's work in the Dominican Republic lead him to be featured as a Peace Corps Success Story. He and Kennedy also returned to the Peace Corps through a joint speaking engagement at New World Symphony in 2015.[7]
When Crawford left the Peace Corps, this coincided with Hurricane Katrina relief effort in 2005. Much of the city was still devastated and required help. As Crawford had studied at Tulane University, he made contact with a number of people in the area and worked on the Samuel J Green Charter School. This was in conjunction with Tulane, as Crawford was enrolled as a Tulane Cowen Scholar for public service.[8] The Charter School's recovery became one of New Orleans success stories and was visited by George W. Bush.[9]
Politics[edit]
Crawford's move into politics came after he supported a number of former military and Peace Corps political candidates. He then formed SunPac, a Hispanic outreach with Jeb Bush Jr.[10] SunPac eventually merged into MayPac, with Crawford playing a major role in both Miami and Florida.[11][12] His role in setting up the two Action Committees meant that he became part of the Mavpac 40 Under 40 List.[13]
From 2015 onwards, Crawford supported Jeb Bush in the run-up to his presidential campaign in 2016.[14] He served as a fundraiser and military supporter of Bush and his campaign.[11][15] Crawford supported fellow Navy Reserve Intel Officer and MAVPAC leader George P. Bush and has supported him in Texas as Texas Land Commissioner.
Crawford and Dan Green founded the War Veterans Fund, with the main aim of assisting veterans from a monetary standpoint when running for office.[16] MayPac and the Veterans War Fund played large roles in both Dan Crenshaw and Michael Waltz both becoming the congressman in 2018.[17]
Personal life[edit]
Crawford married his wife, Mary Elizabeth on April 1, 2006. Who then served with Edward in the Dominican Republic during his service in the Peace Corps.[18]
References[edit]
- ↑ "In the Media". InvestRes.
- ↑ Ehrhardt, Will. "A New Horse Joins the Private Equity Herd". D Magazine.
- ↑ Prior, Jon. "Dallas' newest private investment firm will hold onto companies for longer". Dallas Business Journal.
- ↑ "A Deadly Deployment, a Navy SEAL's Despair". New York Times.
- ↑ "Massachusetts, 4th House District". National Journal. November 6, 2012.
- ↑ Jacobs, Sally (March 17, 2012). "For the Kennedy clan, he is Generation Next". The Boston Globe.
- ↑ "Recap of Kennedy & Shriver RPCVSF". Peace Corps Connection. October 2015.
- ↑ "New Orleans Schools get a Fresh Start". NBC News.
- ↑ Holland, Steve (2007). "Bush acknowledges frustrations in New Orleans". Reuters.
- ↑ "Jeb Bush appeals to GOP grassroots and tells party: 'stop acting stupid' courting Hispanics". Miami Herald. August 28, 2012.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Smith, Adam C. "Jeb Jr. and Slater Bayliss step up". Tampa Bay Times.
- ↑ "Jeb Bush's son, Jeb Jr., has become a draw for millennials". Fox News.
- ↑ "Florida dominates in MavPAC's 40 under 40 awards". St Peters Blog.
- ↑ Annamm, Phil. "Jeb Bush's "Mission: NEXT" bundler program lands in Miami Sept. 24". Florida Politics.
- ↑ "Jeb Bush announces Miami-Dade leadership team, satellite campaign office". Miami Herald.
- ↑ "In the Warlords' Shadow". Naval Insitute Press.
- ↑ "Republican runoff to replace U.S. Rep. Ted Poe turns tense amid mudslinging allegations". Texas Tribune.
- ↑ "Wedding of Edward J. Crawford IV and Mary Elizabeth Hawkins". The Times (Shreveport).
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