Don Cravins, Jr. serves as the National Urban League’s Senior Vice President for Policy and Executive Director of the Washington Bureau. Cravins leads the development of the National Urban League’s policy, research, and advocacy agenda, while expending the organization’s impact and influence inside the Capital Beltway.
Since 1998, Cravins has been a practicing attorney and a member of the Louisiana Bar Association. In 2004, he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. At that time, he and his father, State Senator Don Cravins, Sr., made Louisiana history by becoming the first and only father and son to serve in the Louisiana Legislature at the same time. In 2006, Cravins was elected to the Louisiana Senate for the seat vacated by his father. During his tenure in the Louisiana Senate, Cravins was heavily involved in post-Hurricane Katrina issues as the Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee and was an active member of the Juvenile Justice Commission of Louisiana.
In January of 2009, Cravins left the Louisiana Legislature to serve as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship where he oversaw the legislative activities of the Committee. In January of 2013, Cravins began serving as Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana.
In addition to his duties at the National Urban League, Cravins is an adjunct professor at George Washington University where he teaches Prosecution and Litigation in Intellectual Property and Constitutional Law. He also serves as a captain in the District of Columbia Army National Guard Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps with the 352nd Legal Operations Detachment.
Cravins is a native of Southwest Louisiana and a graduate of Teurlings Catholic High and Louisiana State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He attended Southern University Law Center where he graduated with honors. He was presented the Southern University Law Center Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 and named a 2015 LSU Legend by the LSU Black Alumni Chapter.
Don attended LYS in 1988 and 1989 and served as a counselor from 1990-1994. He was an Assistant Program Director in 1995 and served as Program Director in 1996 and 1997. Don has also been named to the LYS Hall of Fame and he serves as a member of the LYS Advisory Committee.
He is married to Attorney Yvette Puckett Cravins and they have three children, Dominique Claire, Trey and Chloe Denise. Yvette serves as Chief of Staff for Congressman William Lacy Clay, Jr. of Missouri. Cravins and his family reside in Opelousas, Louisiana and in Washington, DC.