Staff
Crystal Hayling
President and CEO
crystal.hayling@blueshieldcafoundation.org
Crystal Hayling joined Blue Shield of California Foundation as president and CEO in 2004, continuing her long-time commitment to helping underserved communities as a leader of philanthropic organizations. With 20 years of nonprofit and foundation experience, Ms. Hayling has advocated for women, minorities, low-income families and children through a variety of leadership positions. Prior to joining Blue Shield of California Foundation, Ms. Hayling was senior advisor for the Marguerite Casey Foundation, a Seattle-based foundation committed to helping low-income families strengthen their voice and mobilize their communities to advocate social justice. In California, Ms. Hayling served as director of special projects at the California HealthCare Foundation where she also helped establish and run the Oakland-based Medi-Cal Policy Institute, a public policy think-tank dedicated to improving and expanding California's Medicaid program. She joined the California Wellness Foundation during its start-up stage in Woodland Hills, and while there created a multi-million dollar grants initiative aimed at decreasing gang violence. As program director for the Los Angeles Women's Foundation, she oversaw grants addressing issues such as domestic violence prevention, women's economic development and girls' leadership programs. Other nonprofit organizations where Ms. Hayling has held leadership positions include The California Self Help Center in Los Angeles and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund in San Francisco.
Ms. Hayling, who has also lived and worked in China and Mexico, holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Masters in Management Science from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ms. Hayling is a member of the Board of Directors of Grantmakers in Health and also serves on the California Women's Health Council, the Advisory Committee for Women & Philanthropy, the Advisory Board of The Center for Effective Philanthropy and the Advisory Committee for Healthy San Francisco. Ms. Hayling is a 2007 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
