Areas of Expertise:
Crystal Barney serves as Chief Talent Officer at APCO, where she leads global talent strategy across the firm’s operations in more than 30 countries.
Crystal’s approach to talent strategy is grounded in listening — to employees, managers, and leaders across every market APCO serves — and in the belief that the strongest people strategies are built at the intersection of business strategy, employee experience, organizational capability, and the realities of how work actually gets done. She also plays a central role in guiding APCO’s broader enterprise transformation, helping shape the organizational structure, governance, and decision-making that allow the firm to operate with clarity, agility, and impact.
Crystal brings 24 years of progressive HR and talent leadership experience spanning the public and private sectors. She spent eight years as Chief Human Resources Officer at the Georgia Technology Authority, followed by a decade at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she led the firm’s Northeast region on strategy, transformation, and change management engagements as an HR strategy consultant. Prior to joining APCO, Crystal ran global talent management at T. Rowe Price, partnering with leaders across the organization to build talent capability at scale. At APCO, she joined as Head of Talent Management before stepping into the Chief Talent Officer role.
A systems thinker who operates comfortably at the intersection of financial and people strategy, Crystal has long championed a distinctive idea: talent isn’t a support function — it’s a P&L lever and a strategic risk function that deserves a seat at the table alongside the business itself.
Crystal holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Public Administration, both from George Mason University. She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), holds a Change Management Advanced Practitioner certification from Georgetown University, and is DiSC certified. Crystal is based in the Washington, D.C., area.