Onaje L. A. Crawford, M. Div., MSW Onaje Crawford is an experienced educator, non-profit professional, and faith leader, who is called to inspire people of all ages to embrace the power of community, unity, determination, and education. Having been shaped by powerful educators, community leaders, and academic institutions, Onaje has dedicated his life to ensuring that everyone has access to education, mentorship, and guidance of the highest quality. For more than 15 years, Onaje has served academic institutions with distinction. In 2005, he served as the founding business and operations manager of University Heights Charter School. Since 2007, he has worked with the New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project (NJ LEEP, Inc.), a law-based college preparatory program for students from grades 6 through their college graduation. Having taken on several roles in the organization has allowed him to help young people develop character and leadership skills and has prepared them to matriculate into and graduate from the nation’s top colleges and universities. Thus far, he has helped students gain admission to every Ivy League school, as well as Amherst College, Boston College, the College of the Holy Cross, Duke University, Georgetown University, Howard University, Morehouse College, NYU, Spelman College, Stanford University, Wellesley College, and Williams College, to name a few. After graduating from Newark’s Mt. Vernon Elementary School in 1994, Rev. Crawford received a scholarship from the Wight Foundation, a Newark-based non-profit, to attended The Taft School, a college preparatory boarding school in Watertown, CT. After Taft, he attended Boston University where he served as President of the Sigma Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Vice President of Multicultural Affairs for Boston University’s Student Union, before graduating with a Bachelors of Art in Political Science. In 2012, he developed and taught a mock trial course for elementary school students at Newark Legacy Charter School. In 2013, he interned at United Nations where he worked with the Presbyterian Church to respond to international crisis and advocate for human rights. In 2014, he interned at the Union Chapel Community Development Corporation and the YMCA of Newark and Vicinity, where he developed programming for Newark’s youth, families, and the elderly. In 2018, Onaje worked with Great Oaks Legacy Charter School, where he helped students with behavioral and academic challenges complete Independent Studies Projects to reignite their love of learning. In 2014, Onaje graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned a Masters of Divinity with a 3.7 GPA, and, the following year, he graduated from a joint degree program at Rutgers University, through which he received a Masters of Social Work after earning a 3.9 GPA. Currently, he resides in Newark, with his wife, Tahirah, his 7-year-old daughter, Kela, and his 3-year-old daughter, Kari. In everything he does, Onaje endeavors to become a better leader, servant, and catalyst for change. Seeking to help improve the lives of the people and community around him, Onaje loves sharing the importance and power of character, education, faith, and love with everyone he meets.