Candy Crespo is the Associate Director of the Maguire Ethics Center. In addition to her work in the Center, Crespo is an adjunct professor in the department of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at SMU. Crespo is a first-generation college graduate and finds immense joy in working with the university’s students.

She joined SMU direct from Washington, D.C., where she worked in public affairs and served as special assistant to former White House Press Secretary and GPG Founding Partner Joe Lockhart at The Glover Park Group. At the Glover Park Group, Crespo provided strategic account support and direction for 14 Fortune 500 companies and specialized in research-driven policy campaigns, opinion research and reputation branding.

Previous experience includes extensive work in non-profit management and communication research at various domestic and international non-governmental organizations including The Ormylia Center, Ormylia, Greece; The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, London, England; The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, New Mexico; and Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation, Dallas, Texas. In addition, she has worked for CNN as an on-air focus group facilitator for their live coverage of large-scale political events.

Red and blue, through and through, Crespo graduated from SMU with a B.A. in Corporate Communications & Public Affairs and a minor concentration in Spanish. She completed SMU’s Cox School of Business Graduate Marketing Program in 2011 and holds a Master's in Higher Education Policy and Leadership from SMU's Simmons School of Education & Human Development. Crespo is a proud member of the Junior League of Dallas and an honorary inductee of Tau Sigma.