The mission of United Way is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good.
United Way is a national network of nearly 1,150 local organizations that work to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health. These are the building blocks for a good life: a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health.
Our work is fueled by the passion of 2.8 million volunteers and 9.8 million donors who give their time, their money and their voice to improve the lives of others.
Every day, our volunteers, donors and advocates are making a lasting difference in so many ways. That can mean helping a child learn to read, donating money to make sure people have access to quality medical care, speaking out in support of policies that provide training for in-demand jobs and so much more.
ANGELA F. WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT & CEO
Angela F. Williams began her role as President and CEO of United Way Worldwide on October 15, 2021. With more than 30 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and corporate sectors, Williams brings a long history of purpose-driven work to her role at United Way Worldwide.
She was named to Forbes’ 2021 List of Women 50 Over 50 Creating Social Change at Scale and presented with a 2021 CEO Today Healthcare Award.
Most recently she served as president and CEO of Easterseals, the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of lifechanging disability services and powerful advocacy for its 1.5 million clients of all ages, including veterans and seniors. Entering its second century, Williams’ goals are to increase Easterseals’ growth, bolster its impact, expand its services, and advance disability equity in healthcare, education, and employment for the one in four people living with disability today.
Before that, she was executive vice president, general counsel, and chief administration officer at YMCA of the USA.
Williams was raised in a military family, which influenced her decision to serve on active duty in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) for more than six years following her graduation from the University of Texas School of Law. This experience, when few Black women served in the JAG Corps, was foundational to her commitment to service.
Her other leadership roles in government include serving on Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate Judiciary Committee staff as special counsel on criminal law, prosecutor on the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s National Church Arson Task Force, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
In the corporate world, Williams was vice president and deputy general counsel for Sears Holdings Corp, as well as chief compliance and ethics officer after working at Bryan Cave law firm.
In 2006, directly before joining the YMCA, Williams was interfaith liaison for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, a nonprofit organization formed to provide critically needed donations to assist the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
A native of Anderson, South Carolina, Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in American government from the University of Virginia, 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. Williams resides in Chicago with her husband, the Reverend Roderick Williams. She is a volunteer pastor at Chicago Apostolic Center.