Dr. Janelle Williams is a visionary strategist that inspires people, practices, and possibilities. She has committed her life to a mission of advancing strategies, investments and policies that increase opportunities for disinvested communities – particularly those bearing the burdens of systemic racism and economic exclusion. Dr. Williams serves as Co-Founder and CEO of Kindred Futures – a catalytic change agent committed to closing the racial wealth gap.

Before joining Kindred, she was Principal Adviser with the Community Economic Development team at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Dr. Williams is a skillful collaborator who builds alliances to broaden support, leverage resources and improve results. She worked internally and externally to advance system mandates and strategic priorities, while applying defensible, equitable and inclusive lens to community economic development approaches. She also co-designed the Federal Reserve Bank’s groundbreaking Racism and the Economy series with colleagues across the 12 Reserve Banks which amplified how structural racism constrains the overall competitiveness of our economy.

Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Dr. Williams led economic opportunity initiatives for the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site. While at the Foundation, she administered millions in grants and leveraged significant co-investment. Her work has served as a national model to other grant makers looking to operationalize racial equity and inclusion. She also served as a Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives, conducting community economic development research. She served as an organizer in her native homeland, Trinidad, and Tobago, before immigrating to the United States.

Dr. Williams holds a doctorate in international family and community studies from Clemson University, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Georgia, bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology from Florida Memorial University. She has also received executive certificates from Harvard University and Babson College. She is a fellow for the Association of Black Foundation Executives’ Connecting Leaders program and an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta Class of 2024 and LEAD Atlanta 2011 programs. She authored several publications on pressing community economic development issues. She also received numerous awards including being named among the 2024 Atlanta Business League 100 Women of Influence, Good Trouble 2024 recipient, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Supplier Diversity Advocate and the GA Watch Equity Champion Award.