Damon Williams is an education advisor and the former chief officer for diversity, equity, and educational achievement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ¹ He works as a diversity consultant and receives public school funds for his coaching on educational policies that promote critical race theory-influenced notions of diversity and equity. ²

As of January 2022, Williams was working as the chief catalyst of the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Social Innovation in Atlanta, Georgia as well as a senior scholar and innovation fellow at the Wisconsin Equity and Inclusion Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ^{3 4}

Career

Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s degree in Leadership Development and Organizational Dynamics from Miami University in Ohio. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2001 in Organizational Behavior and Management. ⁵

From 2008 to 2013, Williams worked as the associate vice chancellor, vice provost, and chief officer for Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was the founder of this department, using it to spread diversity strategies and refine “inclusive” educational development techniques. He managed a $15 million annual budget dedicated to diversity, equity, and educational achievement programs, and created numerous new initiatives and scholarships based on these subjects. ⁶ He also worked on partnerships to diversify STEM departments, diversify university faculties, and a four-year partnership with the National Posse Foundation. ⁷

He was the managing partner of the Williams Wade Golden (WWG) Research and Consulting Group from 2000 to 2013, offering clients diversity training projects, among other services. ⁸

From 2013 to 2017, Williams worked as the senior vice president and chief education officer at the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, leading professional development training for more than 54,000 staff of various local clubs. ⁹ He lead the program implementation effort with the organization’s major partners, including Coca-Cola, Walmart, Sprint, Tupperware Brands, the Department of Education, Disney, Major League Baseball, the Wallace Foundation, Taco Bell, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, AT&T, Charles Schwab, Comcast, Microsoft, and others. ¹⁰

As of January 2022, Williams was the chief catalyst of the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Social Innovation in Atlanta, Georgia as well as a senior scholar and innovation fellow at the Wisconsin Equity and Inclusion Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ^{11 12}

Williams is an inaugural distinguished scholar in residence with the National Black MBA Association in Atlanta, Georgia. In this role, he provides “thought leadership and research products” to the organization’s more than 500 corporate partners and national affiliate chapters. ¹³

He is the author of Strategic Diversity Leadership: Activating Change and Transformation in Higher Education and the co-author with Dr. Katrina C. Wade-Golden of The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy Structure and Change Management. ¹⁴

Manifesto

In January 2016, Damon Williams published a “leadership manifesto” entitled “MORE.” It encouraged education leaders to fulfill the promises of diversity and inclusion, to “level the playing field of girls’ participation in STEM and utilize women as full participants at all levels of leadership,” and to “meet the challenge of the boys of color crisis.” Williams wrote that he endeavors to prevent young people from inheriting the “inequities” he inherited from the previous generation, and calls diversity “an imperative of today and the only hope for tomorrow!” ¹⁵

Personal Life

Damon Williams has a Twitter account where he posts diversity-in-education content, such as an article about an “antiracist library” that promotes “racial justice” and “diversity in reading.”¹⁶

1. “Consultant Report Card – Damon Williams.” DefendingEd.org. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://defendinged.org/report/damon-williams/.
2. ^[1] “Consultant Report Card – Damon Williams.” DefendingEd.org. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://defendinged.org/report/damon-williams/.
3. “Dr. Damon A. Williams, Chief Catalyst.” National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy. https://inclusiveexcellenceacademy.org/about/.
4. “Damon A. Williams, PhD.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonawilliams/.
5. “Damon A. Williams, PhD.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonawilliams/.
6. “Damon A. Williams, PhD.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonawilliams/.
7. “Damon Williams.” National Black MBA Association. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://nbmbaa.org/damon-williams/.
8. “Damon A. Williams, PhD.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonawilliams/.
9. “Dr. Damon A. Williams, Chief Catalyst.” National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy. https://inclusiveexcellenceacademy.org/about/.
10. “Damon A. Williams, PhD.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonawilliams/.
11. “Dr. Damon A. Williams, Chief Catalyst.” National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://inclusiveexcellenceacademy.org/about/.
12. “Damon A. Williams, PhD.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonawilliams/.
13. “Dr. Damon A. Williams, Chief Catalyst.” National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://inclusiveexcellenceacademy.org/about/.
14. “Dr. Damon A. Williams, Chief Catalyst.” National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://inclusiveexcellenceacademy.org/about/.
15. “MORE: A Leadership Manifesto.” Dr. Damon A. Williams. January 13, 2016. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://drdamonawilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/DAW_Manifesto_062417.pdf.
16. “Damon Williams.” Twitter. January 10, 2022. Accessed January 17, 2022. https://twitter.com/DAWPHD/status/1480545982618218497?s=20. .