Angela F. Williams is bi-vocational -- she is both an ordained minister and a lawyer. In 2001, the New York Times and L Magazine featured her in articles about people who pursue two full-time professions. In 2007, Warner Books published a book inspired by Mrs. Williams’ life entitled One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success. Currently, Ms. Williams is the General Counsel for the YMCA of the U.S.A. (“Y-USA”). Located in Chicago, Y-USA is the national resource office for the nation’s 2,686 YMCAs, which serve nearly 21 million people each year, including 9.4 million children under the age of 18. Through a variety of programs and services focused on the holistic development of children and youth, health and well-being for all, and family strengthening, YMCAs unite men, women and children of all ages, faiths, backgrounds, abilities and income levels. From urban areas to small towns, YMCAs have proudly served America’s communities for nearly 160 years by building healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

Prior to joining Y-USA, Mrs. Williams was the Interfaith Liaison for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, a nonprofit organization formed to provide critically needed donations to assist the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. In this capacity, she was responsible for understanding the impact of Katrina on the faith community and overseeing the processing of $25 million in grants to rebuild houses of worship. Mrs. Williams recently served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Litigation & Government Relations for Sears Holdings Corporation and was Sears’ Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer, responsible for ensuring that ethical practices and policies were developed, embedded and enforced. Her legal background includes practicing law with Bryan Cave LLP, as Special Counsel on Criminal Law to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on his Senate Judiciary Committee staff, Department of Justice prosecutor with the National Church Arson Task Force, federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida, and in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps.

She is a 2005 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. This program seeks to develop our next generation of community-spirited leaders, providing them with the tools necessary to meet the challenges of corporate and civic leadership in the 21st century by honing their skills in values-based leadership. Each year 20 Crown Fellows are chosen from among young executives and professionals who have already achieved considerable success in the private or public sector. Additionally, she is a moderator for the Institute’s Executive Seminar. At each Executive Seminar, leaders come together to learn from each other and from some of the greatest thinkers of all time. Participants examine the writings of philosophers such as Aristotle and Confucius, social theorists such as Adam Smith and John Locke, revolutionaries such as Gandhi and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, voices of conscience such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harriet Taylor Mill, and contemporary minds such as Doi Takeo and Vaclav Havel. The Executive Seminar experience enables participants to define and understand basic values that are at the heart of the most complex decisions leaders face. Leaders leave better prepared to manage relationships with diverse constituencies, conduct business in a global environment, and motivate followers through visions that unite and inspire.

Her educational degrees include a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia where she was an Echols Scholar, a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law and a Master of Divinity,cum laude, from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University.

She lives in Chicago with her husband Roderick Williams, who is an Executive Director (Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin) with Prison Fellowship.