Candice M. Williams has been named as the new Program Director for Equity and Inclusion at the National Civic League. Candice brings years of academic and professional experience to this new role, having led diversity, inclusion, and youth-oriented civic engagement programming in educational and community settings.
While the National Civic League has long focused on racial equity and inclusion as key elements of civic capital, our new Equity and Inclusion Director will help the League advance this work. In collaboration with our partner organizations, Candice will help implement projects funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and others to help communities practice inclusive civic engagement and incorporate equity into civic affairs. This work will be integrated into our All-America City Awards, National Civic Review, Model City Charter, and civic assistance programs.
Candice’s most recent role was at Emory University where she served as Assistant Director of the Atlanta Urban Debate League (AUDL). Founded in 1985, as the first urban debate league in the nation, the AUDL hosts forums for public debate and discussion, supporting students, educators, and community members to expand community capacity for inclusive and collaborative decision-making. The AUDL is now one of 22 members of the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues and was recently featured in a New York Times column on the benefits of organized debate and discussion for communities. While at Emory, Candice also served as Co-chair of a Strategic Planning Committee for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Additionally, she has worked as a consultant in collaboration with organizations like the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the National Speech and Debate Association, and local city governments to develop programming to support more inclusive and participatory models of democracy.
Before joining Emory, Candice worked at Western Washington University and the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee where she served as an academic instructor, community manager, and ally trainer, leading programs and training to foster more diverse and inclusive community cultures. Candice received a bachelor’s degree in Government from Cornell University and a master’s degree in Women’s & Gender Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
