About Kathryn Crosby

I was raised here in Dale by two parents who served this country and then came home and kept serving in this community. That shaped how I see responsibility, how I show up for people, and what service actually means.

This isn’t a place I found later in life. It’s where I was raised. I went to Bensley Elementary. Then Beulah. Then Falling Creek Middle. The older versions of those schools, before all the changes we see now so my roots here run deep.

My father, an immigrant, spent nearly 20 years working in Chesterfield County Public Schools. Most people knew him as the “Snack Man” but I knew him as Dad, a man who showed up every day, worked hard, and took pride in what he did, even when no one was paying attention.

And my mother…my mother is the definition of service. She has spent her life pouring into people. Early childhood education. Public schools. Helping veterans experiencing homelessness find stability and housing. She didn’t just talk about service. She lived it. Every day. Without recognition. And now she’s back in the classroom at Falling Creek Middle School, pouring into kids at the same school that poured into me.

Both of my parents still live here and now, I’m raising my two daughters here. So when I talk about Dale, I’m not talking about an idea. I’m talking about home. Past, present, and future all tied together.

Because I’ve lived here for over 30 years, my understanding of this community isn’t based on reports or secondhand stories. It’s based on memory and lived experience.

I remember sitting in school trailers because there wasn’t enough space inside the building.

I remember walking in the grass along roads near my neighborhood because there weren’t any sidewalks.

At the time, those things just felt normal.

Looking back, they shouldn’t have been acceptable.

I didn’t just carry those experiences with me. I chose to study them. I earned my MBA and Master of Human Relations, with a focus on how organizations function and how change actually happens. I’m also a certified change management practitioner with a background in industrial and organizational psychology. I wanted to understand not just what was happening in communities like mine, but why systems work the way they do and how to fix them.

Now, I work inside systems that serve the public, particularly those who are too often overlooked. I’ve spent my career helping organizations fix what isn’t working. Not from the outside, but from within.

I started in local government as a Chesterfield 911 dispatcher, where I learned quickly how people’s needs show up in real time. From there, I moved into state government, working in health equity and public health systems, helping ensure people could access the resources and services meant for them. I also made Virginia history as the first Chief DEI Officer at the Virginia Department of Health, where I helped shape how the state serves communities that have too often been pushed to the margins.

That same work shows up locally, too. I’ve spent time supporting elections, working directly with voters, and helping facilitate conversations within the community. It’s given me a real, practical understanding of how people experience these systems day to day and what it looks like to show up and serve.

Along the way, I’ve built two businesses from the ground up. One focused on organizational strategy and helping institutions follow through on the change they talk about. The other rooted in wellness and care. I teach at Virginia State University, where I develop curriculum and teach students how to think critically about health, systems, and the world around them. And I’ve spent years coaching young people on the volleyball and basketball court, where I’m affectionately known as Coach Kay.

And for the past several years, I’ve served as a licensed and ordained minister. Not in a political way, but in a people way. Walking ith folks through real life. The hard moments, the uncertain ones, and the ones where they just need someone to stand with them.

Everything I’ve done has been purposeful, grounded in service, and centered on one thing: making systems work better for people.

Especially the people who are usually last in line.

Different jobs in different spaces but the same purpose. Not for recognition nor for a title but because I believe in doing the right things the right way, even when no one is watching.

Running for office wasn’t part of my plan but there comes a point where you have to stop waiting for things to change and decide to be part of changing them. For me, that point is now.

Because this is home, it’s both my responsibility and my privilege to serve Dale.

I’m not coming into this role to sit quietly.

I know how to assess what’s not working.
I know how to ask the right questions.
I know how to hold systems accountable to the people they’re supposed to serve.

That’s how I’ve always operated.

And that’s exactly how I will serve Dale.