Crystal Jackson
Associate Director for Legal Advocacy
American Diabetes Association

 Click to view video 

View PowerPoint

Crystal Jackson is Associate Director of Legal Advocacy at the American Diabetes Association (ADA)'s National Office in Alexandria, Virginia.  Her primary responsibility is managing the Association’s Safe at School Campaign.  Crystal is considered a national authority on the rights of students with diabetes and has spoken at conferences and forums throughout the United States and internationally on how to effectively advocate on behalf of students with diabetes, training hundreds of parent advocates, attorneys, and health care professionals.

A parent of a child with diabetes, Crystal began her advocacy as a volunteer for ADA when she and another parent advocate teamed up to pass the first state diabetes school legislation in the country which provides comprehensive coverage for students with diabetes in Virginia.  Simultaneously she pursued a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education resulting in a settlement that is a model for safe and effective diabetes care.

Crystal is a former litigation paralegal with the Philadelphia law firm of Fox, Rothschild, O’Brien & Frankel.  She is a contributor to many diabetes publications including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Diabetes Education Program’s school guide entitled  “Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel” and the ADA’s  treatise on school issues: “Legal Rights of Students with Diabetes.” Crystal is a member of the Virginia Diabetes Council, serves on a number of other diabetes and youth advisory boards, and was most recently appointed to Novo Nordisk’s U. S. DAWN Youth Study Advisory Board.  She resides in Loudoun County, VA with her family.