Crystal Fernández

MPA Fellows, Class of 2025

Director, Green Jobs Corps, Common Ground High School, Urban Farm and Environmental Education Center

Crystal Fernández is the Director of Greens Jobs Corps at Common Ground High School, Urban Farm, and Environmental Education Center in New Haven, CT. In this role, she leads the environmental job training and leadership development program that engages young people in paid, high-impact roles related to community engagement, public education, and on-the-ground action around Environmental and Social Justice challenges. She has also led significant expansion to the 4-year career development progression that complements students’ work placements, by weaving in transferable skills training to the academic day, ensuring that all CGHS students engage in meaningful career exploration during each year of high school.

Crystal brings 15 years of experience in non-profit community-based organizations with a focus on youth leadership, workforce development, and life coaching. She is also a Common Ground High School Alum (Class of 2005), Common Ground Parent (class of 2025) and serves on the Family Leadership Team.

Crystal holds a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies with a concentration in Public Administration and African American, Latino, and Urban Studies from Charter Oak State College. She currently serves as President on the Executive Board of the Alpha Beta Alumnae Chapter of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. Crystal is also co-founder of Friends of Kimberly Park, a community greenspace in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven, CT.

Most recently, Crystal graduated from the 2022 Nonprofit Management Program for Emerging Leaders of Color, a two-year executive leadership program for middle-management nonprofit staff co-led by the New Haven Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in partnership with the UConn School of Public Policy.