About Mark

Mark Anthony Wilson, Jr. co-founded the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) in 2005 and served as CRCD’s Executive Director for a decade and now serves as the agency’s President and CEO. Raised in South Los Angeles, Mark previously served as the Director of the Youth Empowerment Project with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference/Martin Luther King Legacy Association, and the Director of Community Development with the Dunbar Economic Development Corporation.

As the President and CEO of CRCD and CRCD Enterprises, Mark directs CRCD’s comprehensive community development services in affordable and permanent supportive housing, education, small business, and workforce development for primarily Latino and African American Historic South Central communities. He provides leadership on local and national levels to improve the policies, systems, and long-standing neighborhood conditions that impact young people’s lives.

In a high-poverty community, Mark spearheads effective collaborations with residents, businesses, nonprofits, community colleges, government, and foundations to create real opportunities for youth to stabilize and pursue their dreams and to bring workforce development and affordable housing options to residents of all ages. Since 2005, Mark has strategically grown CRCD into an agency running nine (9) affordable and permanent supportive housing complexes, an accredited high school, a YouthSource Center, WorkSource Center, BusinessSource Center, and launched a social enterprise – CRCD Enterprises. Mark serves on the board of the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing, the LA Community College District Community Advisory Board (representing LATTC), and the California Community Economic Development Association.

Mark was recently honored with a YouthBuild USA Rising Star award, a Durfee Foundation Sabbatical, Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award, and Durfee Foundation Stanton Fellowship.