We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Crystal Hawkins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Crystal below.

Crystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The promotion of healthy lives for Black communities is of utmost importance to us. C.Hawkins and Associates is a group of Black Mental Health & Wellness Professionals that are intentional about supporting our community with their healing journey. We work as Change Agents to improve cultural competency and cultural humility within mainstream organizations by reducing the role of stigma and marginalization in communities of color. Our drive is to educate community-based organizations, educators (including school district leadership), and city/government agencies on the marginalization of black and brown communities (as it relates to mental health and education) in a way that challenges them to do the work and informs/guides the way they do the work changing narratives, shifting perspectives, and differentiating how resources are allocated. Our goals are to advance racial equity and culturally responsive services within organizations and communities. To organize communities for collective action to improve wellness, justice, education, and social well-being, and to improve outcomes for communities of color through advocacy, research, and leadership development.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

“Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, I witnessed firsthand the residual effects of racial divide, inequity, and a lack of access to resources and supports.
These things affect not only the physical community but also the mindset of the individuals in particular neighborhoods.”

Crystal Hawkins, LCSW, PPSC graduated from Norfolk State University, with a Master’s in Clinical Social Work, where she also received her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology.

Crystal Hawkins worked as a highly recognized clinician, supporting parents and guardians with children who were at​-risk for out-of-home placement. Her career in social work and public education has included program development, facilitating training, child and adolescent mental health, social and emotional learning (SEL), parenting young children with special needs, and trauma-informed practices. She currently works as a dedicated educator with San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) where she develops and administers all aspects of the highly successful and state-recognized Shoestrings Children’s Center, an Early Childhood Program in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco.

While working in the early childhood setting, Crystal co-founded “Black Girl, Brown Girl Books” with her childhood best friend in order to emphasize the importance of representation of Black and Brown characters in books for children 0-8 years old.

She’s the founder of C.Hawkins & Associates, LLC. C. Hawkins & Associates, LLC promotes early childhood education through professional development and workshops to human services agencies, business organizations, and school districts. In addition, She also provides individual and family therapy services in Oakland, CA.

Crystal is a co-founder of Melanated Well, a group of Black Mental Health & Wellness Professionals who are intentional about supporting the Black community with their healing journey. The mission is to empower the Black community to thrive by designing, implementing, and taking ownership of their personal mental health & wellness.

As a Lecturer at San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley, Crystal Hawkins loves merging real-life social work experiences with learning that takes place in the classroom. She is an active and vocal advocate, bringing youth, parents, caregivers, and educators’ voices to local and state government in order to create change on a systemic level.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Initially, I wanted to be a lawyer. My mother was studying criminal justice at the local community college (Southwest Community College) and I was going to do the same. Growing up in my community I saw harm done by the lack of resources and opportunities for those in my neighborhood and how the legal system further punished those with lack of access to resources and punitive laws, so I was going to grow up and do work to combat that. I remember having a conversation with my mother about my then-future career aspirations and she asked me “What would you do as a Lawyer if your client was stealing food and didn’t have money to pay for it”. Without hesitation, I replied that no crime was committed because my client wasn’t able to afford food so what they did was to meet a need. Needless, to say I learned while in both undergraduate and graduate school that Criminal Justice wasn’t that route for me so I chose to change my major to Social Work where I fell in love with the social work concept of “focusing on the person in their environment. I now do work that impacts, individuals, families, and communities as well as policies.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn the importance of being comfortable with who I am personally and professionally, confident in who I am both personally and professionally, and unapologetically, me, a Black woman. I’ve experienced that often when you’re confident and capable in professional settings or work environments as a Black woman, you’re often challenged or attempts to discredit or “humble you” are attempted. On top of that, imposter syndrome can set in IF YOU ALLOW. I’ve learned that my being comfortable is more important than making sure others are okay with how I show up, and ultimately, not my responsibility. I once had a white, female colleague attempt to complain to my supervisor that I failed to include her in the development of a program I designed, and I reminded her that I am the only licensed mental health professional in our entire department, and when I need her input, she’ll be the first to know.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chawkinsandassociates.com
• Instagram: chawkinsassoc https://www.instagram.com/chawkinsassoc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CHawkinsandAssociates/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chawkinsassociates-llc-91a00a184?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CHawkinsAssoc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_uP-bzPJrD_ee0xVZdhIMg
• Other: Sidenote: Website is under construction through April 10th.

Image Credits
Harvey Lozada IG: @whysf