Submitted photoCrystal Moore, a Collinsville native, is part of a prestigious class of White House fellows serving in various capacities to learn more about how government functions.

Crystal Moore recalled two moments early in her life that prompted her to pursue a career in education and public service, two goals she said she continues to pursue as a White House Fellow.

As a junior at West Lauderdale High School, Moore participated in a mock election at the University of Southern Mississippi with the American Legion’s Auxiliary Girls Nation Program.

“I think if I had to think of a pivotal point, that was a point where I knew that at some point in my career I wanted public service to be a component of it,” Moore said. “(It) just instilled in me the value of public service and the value that I can bring to our country through my educational and professional experiences.”

From West Lauderdale, Moore went to Xavier University in New Orleans, where she served as the student body president the same year Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

“Being able to serve as a student leader on that campus right after Hurricane Katrina still remains one of my most formative experiences and so I always point to that as just being a time in my life where I had the opportunity to step up,” Moore said. “Both of those were pretty formative experiences… definitively the two moments when I said, ‘Public service is going to be a part of my career.’ “

Moore, of Collinsville, graduated from West Lauderdale in 2003, attending Xavier University from 2003 until 2007. Moore received a bachelor’s of science in business administration and finance and worked with Accenture LLP for three years before working in the District of Columbia Public School District. 

During the summer of 2013, Moore interned with the White House’s Domestic Policy Council before leaving Washington D.C. for Boston, where she worked for Parthenon and Fullbridge, both companies that seek technology solutions for the education sector. 

Moore returned to D.C. as a fellow for the White House Office of Public Liaison in August, where she’ll assist with outreach and engagement at the “front door of the White House,” as she called it, supporting the White House initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

“I feel very privileged and honored to be a part of the fellowship program,” Moore said. “I’m really excited for the opportunity to work on the HBCUs and the HBCU initiative through the fellowship.”

Moore said she couldn’t divulge more information about her specific duties, but described the benefits of the program. 

The program offers 14 young professionals from across the county a chance to spend a year working at the highest levels of the federal government and observing senior and high-ranking government officials, Moore said.

“It’s probably the most rigorous and difficult application and screening process that I’ve ever been through but I feel very honored to be here and to have the opportunity,” Moore said. 

According to a White House news release about the fellows, “Throughout the year, fellows actively participate in an education program that expands their knowledge of leadership, policy-making and contemporary issues. Community service also plays a vital role in the program, as fellows take part in service projects throughout the year.”

On its website, the White House said it hoped to give its fellows a greater understanding of how government functioned.

“It is essential to the healthy functioning of our system that we have in the non-governmental sector a generous supply of leaders who have an understanding – gained first hand – of the challenges that our national government faces. In a day when the individual feels increasingly remote from the centers of power and decision-making, such leaders can help their fellow citizens comprehend the process by which the Nation is governed,” it said on the website. 

Moore credited her family for impressing the importance of education and civil service to her at a young age. 

“I’ve had so many role models in my life that I would get in trouble if I tried to name them. But my grandmother passed right before Christmas of last year and she taught (at) West Lauderdale Elementary. She was definitely someone I looked to as a shining example of what it means to be committed to the education sector and just a great example of how I want to live my life,” Moore said. 

Moore recalled spending summers at her grandmother’s home, watching soap operas and C-SPAN. 

“I don’t take it for granted that I had someone who could always help me with my homework, who took me to camps at MCC… I feel very privileged to have had someone who was so committed to the education sector and making sure that I had the best opportunities available. I recognize that not everyone has those opportunities,” Moore said.

Moore said she saw education as the great equalizer, a way to hopefully give everyone the same opportunities. Specifically, she said she focused on students of color and first-generation students, making sure students get to, and through, college and develop the skillset they need for their first job. 

“When I look back, it’s been a hodge-podge of roles that all have a lens toward, how do we get students to and through college and then make sure they have strong professional opportunities on the back end. And that’s the work that I hope I’ll be able to continue to do,” Moore said. 

Still, as Moore continues her year in a prestigious position in one of the biggest cities in America, being from a small town in East Mississippi has left its impression.

“I feel really privileged to come from Collinsville,” Moore said. “I think that growing up in a small town there’s just an incredible sense of community and responsibility to everyone. I think as I look back on my life that my commitment to community comes from Collinsville and seeing my grandmother, family members and church members all being accountable to one another.”