Lee Crawford Email and Phone Number

Since April 2024 I have been a member of the City Council for The Village of The Hills TX, a general law municipality of about 2,250 people and the neighborhood where I live. It has been an honor and privilege to help our community and to serve alongside a great Mayor and terrific City Council. My current term runs through November 2025.

In August 2021 I was appointed by the Austin City Council to the Board of Directors of Austin Convention Enterprises, Inc. ("ACE"), a public facility corporation that owns and operates the Austin Hilton Hotel in downtown Austin. As part of my responsibilities, I serve on the Audit Committee, the Contracting Committee, and the Human Resources Committee of the ACE Board. My term expires in 2027.

From mid-2009 through Summer 2023 I worked in a full-time capacity as the Division Chief for the General Counsel Division of the City of Austin Law Department. I lead a team of 13 high quality lawyers and support personnel who: (1) provided general legal support for the police, fire, and emergency medical services departments of the City, and for the City's municipal court: (2) handled all labor and employment issues for the City; and (3) supported the City's executive leadership team and City Council. While maintaining significant ongoing advice and counsel responsibility to City executive management and elected officials, my primary role was management of the Division. The work was most interesting and engaging, and the culture within our Division is friendly and cooperative.In June 2023 I announced my retirement from a full time role with the Law Department and, at the City's request, took a part time role through September 2024 handling special assignments for the City's Manager's Office. Since October 2024 I have been retired fully from the City. During my time with the City, I also took on two temporary management roles while maintaining my regular assignment. From December 2009 through August 2010 I was Acting Division Chief for the Criminal Prosecution Division of the Law Department, and from November 2011 to May 2012 I was the Acting Division Chief for the Litigation Division of the Department. I have always enjoyed coaching and developing employees, and these temporary assignments also gave me a terrific opportunity to become better acquainted with this part of the City's operations.I was selected to participate in the City's executive management development program in 2012-13.

Chief Human Resources Officer for Guaranty Financial Group. Scope of this role includes companywide responsibility for: (1) employee relations and employee development; (2) all HR administrative services (payroll, time and attendance, HR information systems, reporting, and pay and rewards administration); (3) executive compensation planning and reporting; (4) all compensation and benefits planning; (5) diversity and affirmative action planning and reporting; and (6) recruiting and staffing. Manage staff of 26 with a $6.0 million departmental budget. Member of the company’s executive management team, and management representative to the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors.

Promoted in late summer 2007 to senior operations position for insurance division of this Temple-Inland Inc. subsidiary. Managed $6.0+ million budget and about 23 employees. Scope included finance, human resources, information technology, regulatory compliance, and agency operations. This role gave me exposure to the business side of M&A work, and significant exposure to financial management within a medium sized business (approx. $350 million revenues).

Temple-Inland Inc. is a diversified, NYSE-listed company that, until the end of 2007, held major interests in forest products, financial services, and real estate development. Annual revenues varied between $4-6 billion over the years 1995-2007, and workforce varied between sixteen and twenty-one thousand employees.I was promoted in early 2006 to Vice President of Human Resources for Temple-Inland’s corporate services group, reporting to the CAO of Temple-Inland. Managed a staff of 70 with an annual budget of $10.5 million. Responsible for all shared service HR functions, including payroll and HR systems operations, compensation planning, benefits administration, and organizational development and training. Also managed the labor counsel legal function, and staff of HR generalists who supported the 650 employees in the corporate office.Through this position I learned a tremendous amount about management of people and functional areas, including techniques for successfully managing functional areas where I was not the subject matter expert.

From 1995 through 2005 served as assistant general counsel for HR and employment matters. Scope included primary responsibility for all labor and employment law issues for 20,000+ employee company with manufacturing and services divisions (approximately 6,500 unionized employees). Accomplishments: directed all employment issues and documentation for major corporate reorganization and four major acquisitions; conducted 20+ labor arbitration hearings; handled EEO collective actions and FLSA class actions; developed and delivered positive employee relations program; successfully managed OFCCP corporate-wide glass-ceiling pay audit; designed and administered alternative dispute resolution program for non-union workforce; developed corporate labor relations policy for Temple-Inland.

Worked as an attorney in the Labor and Employment section of the firm in its Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Orange County Offices. Trained by some of the best attorneys in America and represented many of the best companies in the world.