Brian Crawford

Brian Crawford is a senior vice president of the Willis-Knighton Health System. Willis-Knighton Health System is the largest healthcare provider in northwest Louisiana, employing more than 7,800 members through its five general acute care hospitals and affiliated rural medical centers. Mr. Crawford previously served more than 34 years in municipal government, including being the chief administrative officer (CAO) for the City of Shreveport where he was responsible for all day-to-day operations of the city and its 16 departments including police, fire, public works, and finance. As Shreveport CAO he oversaw a $500 million annual operating budget and 2,800 employees. Mr. Crawford is also a 29-year fire service veteran, rising through the ranks to serve as the fire chief in Shreveport and Plano, Texas. His vast public safety experiences include Hurricane Katrina; the Charleston (SC) Sofa Super Store Fire Post-Incident Review Team; Commander of Louisiana USAR Task Force 1 operations in Tuscaloosa (AL) following an F-4 tornado; Texas State Fire Marshall’s Office West Line-of-Duty Death Investigation Task Force; and more than a decade as a flight paramedic. Mr. Crawford is a Certified Public Manager© (CPM) through Arizona State University and a Certified Emergency Manager© through the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). He is a graduate of Harvard University’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program, the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer (EFO) program, and is a Fellow (FIFireE) with the Institute of Fire Engineers. In 2017 Mr. Crawford was appointed by Louisiana Governor John Bell Edwards to serve on the Louisiana State Police Commission, where he is currently the vice chair. He possesses a Master of Health Administration from LSU-Shreveport, a Master of Arts in Industrial Psychology from Louisiana Tech University, and a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from Wiley College.