Crystal Emery

Crystal Renée Emery's professional background spans more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry as a producer, writer, director, filmmaker and activist. She has worked in a variety of capacities with both stage and screen productions throughout the United States and Europe. Ms. Emery earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut, and was handpicked to be included in a small group of young directors who were given the opportunity to work directly with theater director icon Lloyd Richards ("Piano Lesson"). She also polished her craft under the tutelage of film industry giant Bill Duke ("A Rage in Harlem"). She recently received her Master of Arts in Media Studies from the New School for Public Engagement. Ms. Emery is the Executive Director of URU, The Right To Be, Inc., a non-profit organization established in 1995 to foster communication and understanding through the arts among diverse racial, social and economic groups across the country. URU champions issues that affect our communities such as race, health, and the environment. URU believes that art can define and transform individuals and civilizations, and that the arts are powerful sources of self-expression, empowerment, and education. Since Ms. Emery started URU, she has developed many initiatives and documentary film programs with social impact as the focus. In 1999, she developed a series entitled "This Is Where I Live, Don't Dump On Me," designed to inspire environmental responsibility and cultivate problem-solving skills among inner city children. She also produced the "Sankofa Cultural Art Festival" in 2000, which brought together nationally renowned Native American, Latino and African-American artists from across the United States. She also launched "Woman to Woman: Helping Ourselves," which is an innovative and highly successful nationwide series of conferences focused on breast health education targeting under-served women in urban communities. Her program resulted in record-breaking numbers of women of color receiving mammograms. Ms. Emery is also a published author. Her two children's books, Little Man's Fourth Grade Journey, and Little Man Loses His Tooth, have been well received, and have been incorporated into the curriculum in school districts across the country. She recently completed a new novel, Without A Trace, in which the main character reflects back on her past and rediscovers her first love. It is a story about how the ghosts of our past and our own illusions create who we are today. Ms. Emery also works as a Public Engagement and Media Specialist, providing strategic planning for various institutions and community organizations. She has developed a systematic and comprehensive approach to ensuring a diverse workplace. Through the examination and review of the existing strategies, goals and values of her client company, she is able to provide individually tailored frameworks that will change and improve the company culture. This personalized approach ensures long-term effectiveness for these strategies. By utilizing the arts, she is able to provide a non-threatening and non-confrontational medium that will highlight the similarities reflected in the client's workforce, and assist in changing mindsets within the company. Ms. Emery has been chosen by the Urban League of Southern Connecticut to receive the 2014 Woman of Power Award. She has also received the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust Award in Journalism for her first feature length documentary, The Deadliest Disease in America. This hour-long film was developed to reduce barriers of access to health care and highlight the unequal treatment that individuals often receive based on color, race, gender and religion. It conveys both historical and contemporary first person stories of racism, witnessed and reported by those whose voices have historically been silenced or ignored. To date the film has toured to 28 cities around the country, and has been screened in more than 70 locations. Ms. Emery remains undaunted by the many challenges of living with muscular dystrophy, continuing to shape a successful personal and professional life. Crystal attributes her success to continuously searching for truth within and listening to God's quiet voice.