From 1988 to 1997, Hayling worked as a Program Director for the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation, as a Senior Program Officer for The California Wellness Foundation, and then the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Hayling took part in start-up teams, which led to the launch of the California Wellness Foundation, the California HealthCare Foundation, and the Marguerite Casey Foundation. As a founding team member of The California Wellness Foundation, she led an innovative initiative for youth violence prevention to be treated as a public health effort rather than criminal justice issue. In 1997 Hayling transitioned to Director of the Medi-Cal Policy Institute for the California HealthCare Foundation. She held that position until 2013. From 2003 to 2004, she served as a Senior Advisor for the Marguerite Casey Foundation. Hayling also previously served on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.

Then from 2004 to 2009, Crystal spearheaded work to achieve universal health coverage as President and CEO of the Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF). In this role, she coordinated over $100 million in strategic grants focused on universal healthcare, technology efficacy, and social media’s ability to change individual behavior for good. She also created the Clinic Leadership Institute, which provides leadership development for those in healthcare striving to become change agents at community health clinics. Additionally, Crystal also has experience with scaling up high-impact programs. She led the team that created the first online Medi-Cal application, reducing approval time from months to days.

She founded C2 Projects (https://crystalhayling.com/c2-projects/), a seven-year venture starting in 2010. Hayling advised families and foundations across Asia on philanthropic strategies to address the region’s most immediate social challenges. She lived in Singapore, where she collaborated with those concerned about in income inequality in Southeast Asia, including civil society organizations and emerging donors.

Seeking her start-up expertise, The Aspen Institute enlisted her as a managing director in 2016-2017 to launch a new Environment Leaders Fellowship that brought together cohorts of next-generation leaders to tackle global climate challenges. In this role, she designed a leadership program focused on the food system’s environmental impact.

Since 2017, Hayling has served as the Executive Director of The Libra Foundation. The Libra Foundation supports organizations promoting fundamental freedoms and human rights, locally in the United States and globally. Libra prioritizes multi-year, unrestricted grants to the frontline, BIPOC-led organizations working in deep community to bring change. The Libra Foundation funds social and economic justice organizations that integrate human rights in and across women’s rights, environmental justice, social justice, and drug policy reform. Hayling explained, “The Libra Foundation is unique and compelling because it centers social justice at the heart of its work.” She says, “The frontline communities Libra supports are my teachers. At the foundation, our goal is to listen. We honor interdependence, disrupt philanthropic patterns that prioritize productivity over humanity, and support a new culture that centers justice and liberation”.

At Libra, Crystal founded the Democracy Frontlines Fund in September 2020, a new social justice-aligned giving strategy that raised $45 million in unrestricted, multi-year support for an exemplary slate of Black-led organizations. In direct response to the global pandemic and uprisings in 2020, she worked with the board to double Libra’s grantmaking.

Hayling has over thirty years of philanthropic and nonprofit experience, both domestic and international. She draws upon these experiences in her fundamental mission to partner with and empower those most affected by poverty and injustice. For Hayling, this involves building strong relationships of trust with POC-led organizations working across racial and social justice issues. Her expertise spans health care, corporate social responsibility, women’s rights, youth, poverty, environment, human rights, and aging. She has a track record that brings together disparate parties to deliver solutions for those most in need of assistance. Hayling has also lived in China, Mexico, and Singapore.

A frequent speaker and author, Hayling was named to Inside Philanthropy’s Power List 100 in 2021. She has served on the boards of the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, Center for Effective Philanthropy, Grantmakers in Health, and Northern California Grantmakers. Currently, she serves on the boards of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Justice Funders, Community Change, and the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. She is a 2007 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and an Aspen Global Leadership Network member. A selection of Hayling’s awards include:

• Power List 100: Foundation Leader of the Year issued by Inside Philanthropy. 2021
• James A. Joseph Award issued by the Association of Black Foundation Executives. 2010
• Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business issued by San Francisco Business Time. 2007 and 2008
• Henry Crown Fellow issued by The Aspen Institute. 2007

In addition to her work, Hayling enjoys gardening, long walks with her dogs, listening to music, and reading. View some of what she’s reading at: https://crystalhayling.com/what-im-reading/.