I am Crystal, I am the founder of Elite Elements; this journey has been a large part of a dream that I still find hard to believe is a reality. I started Elite Elements because of my strong passion and desire to make a difference, inspire folks, offer knowledge, and provide growth to our community to promote hope. Being able to inspire change and resiliency, as I foster education, and training for folks is important to me. It is also extremely important to provide a space where folks can come to embrace the safety of freedom to be their genuine unique selves, as I recall a lot of my childhood I struggled to find where I fit in and felt accepted.

After many years of working in the mental health field, realizing the discrepancies in access to services, and seeing the lack of competencies for service to a select group of individuals (“elite”) I reflected on how to become part of positive change, remembering the fears of isolation, and struggles that I once suffered. I knew the only way to become part of positive change, was to stand tall and create the change that needs to be seen. Being able to bring my love of caring for those around me and to bring all walks of life together in a healing capacity to generate hope gives me great excitement.

As a gay veteran, I realize that much of my path has been extremely tough, however, I am grateful because where each person’s experience is unique to them, I believe that we all have something to offer to each other in every interaction. For me, this journey means hope to take control back in our communities, promote connectivity, make a difference, and invest in each other.

I am also passionate about the outdoors, writing, and just bringing joy to people, I am currently working toward publishing my own poetry book, and I am starting my own podcast called, “Let’s Get Human” by 2 crazy Lezbos. If you don’t find me working on this nonprofit, you can more than likely find me on a trail hiking, writing some poetry, or simply knee-deep in some project…hoping to bring that energy to many people who just simply need someone to see them or hear them.