Crystal E. Ashby is the Interim President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council (ELC), the preeminent membership organization for black CEOs, board directors, and the most senior black executives at Fortune 1000, Global 500, and equivalent companies. She leads the organization’s efforts to increase the number of global black executives in C-Suites, on corporate boards, and in global enterprises. She is the first woman president and CEO of the organization and traces her association with The ELC to her participation in the first class of The ELC’s Strengthening the Pipeline leadership development program.

Ashby is an accomplished senior executive, board member and lawyer with more than 34 years of leadership success, significantly in the energy sector. Her corporate leadership experience was gained over a 22 year career with BP where her roles spanned government and external affairs, law, compliance and ethics, university relations, and retail.

Ashby is an NACD Fellow and member of the International Women’s Forum. She has or is currently serving as a Director on the boards of several organizations. She is an Independent Director on the Board of Texas Reliability Entity, Inc. (Texas RE) and serves on the University of Michigan College of Engineering Dean’s Leadership Advisory Board. Most recently, she was Vice Chair of The ELC and served on the National Board of Genesys Works, the Holocaust Museum Houston Board, and Women Business Collaborative (WBC) Board.

Ashby earned her Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law and holds a bachelor of arts degree, with a double major in English and Psychology, from the University of Michigan.