Innovate Alabama Leadership

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Overview

The Innovate Alabama Board of Directors was appointed in December 2021 to implement the initiatives and recommendations set forth in The Alabama Innovation Commission’s report, including forward-thinking policies that will create a more resilient, inclusive and robust economy to remain competitive in a 21st-century world. Innovate Alabama is led by CEO Cynthia Crutchfield and a board of 11 innovation leaders appointed by Gov. Ivey. It is Alabama’s first statewide public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship, technology and innovation with a mission to help innovators grow roots.

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Throughout my career, I have witnessed startups with incredible potential struggle to find success, not because their idea was not strong enough, but because they did not have access to the capital and resources necessary to build a business. Innovate Alabama’s mission is to solve this exact problem. With a passion for entrepreneurship, supporting underrepresented communities and bettering our state, I am honored to lead the organization as we work to foster an innovation ecosystem to compete in the 21st century economy.

Ms. Cynthia Crutchfield is the CEO of Innovate Alabama. In this role, she oversees the development and implementation of corporate strategy, leads day-to-day operations and ensures the advancement of the organization’s mission through forging partnerships, developing programs and managing innovation activities.

Prior to joining Innovate Alabama, Ms. Crutchfield served as the Founder/President/CEO of Crutchfield Management Consulting, where she set the strategic vision and growth plan for the company. She also served as the COO of The Crutchfield Company, a real estate investment company, providing affordable housing to college students, veterans and underprivileged families. Ms. Crutchfield enjoyed a career of 40+ years within the Federal Government market as a civil servant (18 years) and as a contractor within private industry (22 years).

During her 22-year career with private industry, she served in numerous positions including: Executive Vice President (Infinity Technology); Senior Vice President (AECOM); Vice President (URS, Oceus Networks and ManTech); and Program and Project Manager and Sr. Software Engineer (Computer Sciences Corporation) supporting and leading large, small and mid-tier organizations. In these roles, she developed and executed strategic visions and growth plans and provided oversight of Profit and Loss centers for organizations where she exceeded growth goals for revenues (up to $2B) and profit goals (upwards of 15%) as well as other growth goals. She provided management and oversight of teams of up to 800 program managers, engineers, and IT specialists delivering Information Technology, Aircraft Maintenance and Training, Cybersecurity, and National and Defense Intelligence services to Government customers including the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, National Aerospace and Space Agency/Jet Propulsion Lab, Department of State, the United States Army and the United States Air Force.