Danielle Craddock

Danielle Craddock, MAIS '11 is the owner of Danielle B. Craddock LLC, a consulting company where she uses her experience as founder and director of Girls Inspired & Ready to Lead Inc. (GIRL) to help others start their nonprofits or develop STEM programming. GIRL mentors and empowers teen girls through career exploration, leadership development, and confidence building.

Craddock founded the organization in 2010 after leading a meeting for a group of middle and high school girls who shared concerns about school, relationships, family, and career goals. Realizing these young women needed mentorship, Craddock established GIRL to provide access to professional development workshops, STEM camps, and community service projects, led by women who reflect diverse demographics, so the girls could envision achieving their dreams. Her organization, in partnership with Mason’s College of Science, also founded the award-winning Females of Color and those Underrepresented in STEM (FOCUS) summer camp, which introduces middle school girls to STEM careers. The program’s success led to a residential program for high school girls.

Craddock based GIRL’s programs on the student services model she studied in her higher education interdisciplinary program at Mason, which develops the whole student while preparing students to complete their degrees and achieve professional success. She encourages students to “take advantage of opportunities that feed your passion and find mentors who are doing what you would like to do.”

Craddock’s work has been highlighted on Good Morning Washington (WJLA-TV), WUSA9, and in the Washington Post. She received the 2020 Nonprofit Leader Award from Leadership Fairfax and a 2021 Alumni Service Award from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Published in the college's magazine, Horizon, fall 2022.