Crystal Whiteaker (she/her) is the Founder and CEO of Crystal Lily Creative, and Author of Brave Leadership is a Choice: An Inclusive Guide to Creating Belonging. Crystal is a coach, photographer, and inclusive leadership and brand development consultant who helps entrepreneurs and organizational leaders integrate their values into their brand, leadership, and company culture by doing the personal work first. Crystal brings over 20 years of practical, creative, relational, process driven experience across multiple industries. Her work in higher education, nonprofits, executive recruiting, and creative industries has given her direct experience inside complex systems that shaped how she understands leadership, culture, and inclusion. As an entrepreneur, Crystal's emphasis on representation continues to inform how she sees brand, identity, and belonging. She uses her yoga and trauma-informed training to ground her photography, coaching and facilitation in practices that center human experience, resilience, and care. Crystal believes in co-creating containers where people feel valued — and where curiosity, connection, and collaboration are essential. Crystal is also a Professional SPEAKer who emphasizes core values to help people connect, communicate and lead with belonging in mind. She was recognized as the 2024 Empowerment Leader of the Year by BRA Network and recipient of the 2025 Innovation and Impact award by the Los Angeles LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce; and has worked with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to develop and facilitate a trauma-informed leadership and brand accelerator program to support trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive business owners in Los Angeles County. Crystal's commitment to shaping safer spaces has made a lasting impact on the leaders and communities who have entrusted her to support them as their understanding expands and their cultures evolve.