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. In 2006, Cravins was elected to the Louisiana Senate. 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. 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 The George Washington University where he teaches Judicial Politics in The Graduate School of Political Management. 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 sits as a Trustee for the Keystone Policy Center and as a Board Member of Louisiana Youth Seminar.

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 currently reside in Washington, DC.