Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the pathway out of poverty.” As an award-winning business leader, Chris Crane merged his passions for education and entrepreneurship to launch self-sustaining, Christ-centered schools for children living in poverty in Africa and Latin America. Since becoming the CEO and Co-Founder of Edify, Chris has partnered globally with entrepreneurs in education to serve 3.2 million children throughout 12,000 schools. You won’t want to miss this story!
Bio: Chris Crane co-founded Edify in September 2009 to impart Christian character to children living in poverty in Africa and Latin America and make loans to expand the Christ-centered schools educating these children.
Crane served from 2002-2009 as President & CEO of Opportunity International Inc., the world’s largest faith-based microfinance organization with 10,600 direct and indirect staff operating in 32 countries serving 1.5 million active clients. During Chris’ tenure, Opportunity’s revenues from private sources grew at a compound annual rate of 30%.
Crane acquired COMPS InfoSystems, Inc. in San Diego in 1992 and served as its President & CEO until he sold the company in February 2000. Under Crane’s leadership, COMPS grew from a small, print-based publishing firm with coverage of commercial real estate sale information in four Western states into an electronic database publisher with 420 employees and coverage of the 50 top real estate markets nationwide. During his eight-year tenure, Crane oversaw the acquisition of 13 companies. He raised four rounds of venture capital and listed the company in an initial public offering (IPO).
He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. He studied economics, art appreciation and music appreciation for two years at the University of Vienna, Austria. In 1999, Crane was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in San Diego and in 2009 the Bob Buford Halftime Institute Achievement Award. Crane was a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) from 1990 to 2002.
He has been married to Jane for over 30 years and they have one adult son, Andy.
Chris’ Something Extra: Look for opportunities to use your God-given talents to significantly help disadvantaged people and mentor people and younger leaders.
