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Meet Khadijah Crosby of Prostruct Builders & Solar in North Phoenix & Scottsdale

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Khadijah Crosby.

Khadijah, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Currently, I serve as the Vice President of Operations for Prostruct Builders and Solar, LLC. In my role, I establish, implement and communicate the strategic direction of the organization, develop efficient operations and cost-effective systems to meet current and future needs of the organization. Prior to joining the Prostruct team, I was a Program Manager at Arizona State University in Entrepreneurship + Innovation at Arizona State University.

In my role, I led curriculum and assessment design, development, and acquisition for the Verizon Innovative Learning (VIL) middle school programs and Cisco Global Problem Solvers Program. I was the afforded the opportunity to deliver professional development trainings for students and educators, both locally and nationally to foster an entrepreneurship mindset to be social agents of change; leveraging emerging technology to generate innovative solutions and sustainable social ventures to identified local and global problems. Prior to joining the Youth Entrepreneurship team at ASU, I joined Teach for America where I taught 7th and 8th grade Science in the Valley. I have worked at the Teach for America (TFA) summer institute leading teacher professional development. Through this role, I provided instructional coaching on evidence-based instruction, evaluated teacher performance, and provided targeted feedback to aid in the development of new teachers.
As a STEM educator, I created a safe and welcoming environment for students to be active participants in their learning, construct scientific knowledge through engaging learning experiences and structured academic discourse. By never allowing their socioeconomic status to be an excuse for less rigorous work, holding students to high academic standards, differentiating instruction based on diverse learning needs; every student had access to an equitable science education. I entered education to the be the change I wanted to see by to ensuring students who shared my identity didn’t share my experiences. Discrimination should not be a word used to describe one’s academic experience.

My first time visiting a professor for academic support in chemistry, I was told I was incapable of passing the class; an interaction that set the tone for my undergraduate experience. From freshman to senior year, I faced years of biases, microaggressions and harassment from peers, professors and Greencastle locals; leading to self-doubt and anxiety. When I shared my experiences with my father, he advised to think like a weed; never allowing the fear of being pulled from the ground impede my growth. Even though I continued to face ostracization by peers and minimum academic support from professors; ignorance and racial bias would not determine my future. I graduated from DePauw as a certified personal trainer, research assistant, certified fitness instructor, certified emergency medical technician, member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and one of two Black women with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology in the class of 2014.

Even though, I am very passionate about STEM education, my first passion has always been health and improving healthcare outcomes. I recently graduated with my Master of Science in Biomedical Diagnostics program in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Through this program, I have developed an authentic understanding of the necessity of establishing individualized, medical treatments based on a patient’s genomic characteristics and leveraged by background in biology to deepen my understanding of methods in bioinformatics, advanced diagnostic assay systems, molecular diagnostics platforms and applications, decision science, cognitive science and the application of biomedical informatics to healthcare and biomedicine. I am currently enrolled in the Master of Science Biomedical Informatics program at ASU. Biomedical informatics is an integrative discipline combining information science and biology to revolutionize molecular biology and genomic research. The computational tools utilized in biomedical informatics to acquire, analyze and visualize genomic and proteomic data will continue leading to novel discoveries that enhance patient care. I plan to work in biomedical informatics and data science upon graduation. When I am not working or attending school, I enjoy teaching Yoga, Pilates, Hiit and Barre at the Foundry Yoga in the Valley, spending time with my fiancé’, Tyler, our puppies (Oreo and Mocha) and spending time with her family/friends.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No! Absolutely not! Often times, I am the only Black Woman in my academic programs and in the workplace. I attended DePauw University in Greencastle, IN for undergrad. DePauw’s graduating class of 2014 consisted of 506 students. With only two African American students
earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology, we made up less than 1% of the degrees earned in STEM. As an undergraduate, the years of harassment, racist ideologies, microaggressions and inaccurate notions of Black’s women’s inability to pursue STEM intellectual endeavors lead to self-doubt and anxiety. As a professional and a graduate student, I have found that my experiences with being the only Black Woman have not changed, I have become better at handling those situations and not taking them as personal as I used to. Pursuing a career, in biomedical informatics (after spending years in education- which I don’t regret!) is a challenge because I do not have the traditional research experience that many of my peers do. It can be intimidating at times (very intimidating)

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Prostruct Builders & Solar story. Tell us more about the business.
Currently, I serve as the Vice President of Operations for Prostruct Builders and Solar, LLC. In my role, I establish, implement and communicate the strategic direction of the organization, develop efficient operations and cost-effective systems to meet current and future needs of the organization. Prostruct Builders is a restoration company. We are a 5-star rated, licensed, bonded, insured, BBB accredited, Owens Corning & Polyglass preferred roofing specialists!

Our team of licensed, bonded, and insured professionals are with you every step of the way to make the designing, planning, and building processes as easy as possible. With a wide variety of quality materials available, we can handle any project, no matter the size. Our work speaks for itself, and with consistent recommendations from our clients, you can rest assured knowing that everything is installed properly.
Prostruct Solar aims to make solar power accessible to everyone.

With our finger on the pulse of the latest innovations in solar technology, we have partnered with the best solar manufacturers in the business to bring our clients systems that are reliable, efficient, and time-tested. Even better, we are the proud preferred partners of leading solar manufactures REC and Enphase. Their confidence in our service means you can rest assured that you are in capable hands.

Our top-notch manufacturing partners rely on innovative technology and intelligent design to deliver solar arrays that maximize production, environmental impact, and cost savings. We are so excited about this technology; we want to shout it from the rooftops!

Prostruct Solar is a preferred partner of leading solar manufacturer REC. Our partnership allows us to bring the industry’s best panels to Arizonans ready to switch to smart energy. We currently offer two different panels produced by this highly regarded company.

REC Group is an international pioneering solar energy company dedicated to empowering consumers with clean, affordable solar power in order to facilitate global energy transitions. Committed to quality, innovation and an industry-leading warranty, REC offers photovoltaic modules with leading high quality backed by the lowest known warranty claims rate in the industry.

REC was founded in 1996, and has since become a leading global provider of solar energy solutions. REC has produced around 38 million solar panels amounting to more than 10 GW of clean energy. That’s enough to power almost 16 million people at home. Solar is our focus and we do it exceptionally well

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I wouldn’t call it luck but I would consider them blessings. I am blessed to have a very supportive, close knit family and friends. I have also had very good mentors/supervisors that held very high expectations. I think my professional experiences are non-traditional but that’s what makes them unique and allows me to a holistic & strategic approach to the implementation of systems in my current role.

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