Before joining Cross Creek, Crystal was Chief Data Strategy Officer at Eventbrite, where she oversaw all technical and operational aspects of data and analytics. She also served as the VP of Technology Strategy at MapR Technologies. During her time in the industry, Crystal was named a 2020 Tech Executive Who Matters by HMG Strategy, Data Innovator of the Year in 2019 by the Women Tech Council, a Person to Watch in 2018 by Datanami, and she won the Silver Stevie Award in 2017 for Female Executive of the Year in the computer software category. 

Earlier in her career, she served as Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Amherst College where she taught courses on big data, databases, and computational biology. She is the author of several academic publications on subjects including big data, algorithms, computational biology, and high-performance computing. She also holds a patent for Extreme Virtual Memory. 

Crystal holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in computer science from Brown University and a B.A. in computer science from Amherst College. On weekends, Crystal enjoys golfing and skiing with her family, and hiking with her dog in her beautiful hometown of Park City. She is an aviation enthusiast, having flown all over the United States and the Caribbean.