Angela F. Williams
President and CEO, United Way Worldwide
This episode will premiere Thursday, October 30 at 7:00 pm ET.
When it comes to United Way, we are truly a beacon of lighting communities.We always say that we are there before a disaster happens, during the disaster, and long after. We consider ourselves to be neighbors helping neighbors.
Summary
In this episode of Leadership Matters, host Alan Fleischmann sits down with Angela F. Williams, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide and co-author of Navigating the Age of Chaos: A Sense-Making Guide to a BANI World That Doesn’t Make Sense. From her roots in South Carolina during the civil rights era to her trailblazing career across the military, law and nonprofit leadership, Angela shares lessons on faith, resilience and leading through complexity. She discusses her groundbreaking work at United Way Worldwide, the power of community connection, and the ideas behind her new book’s “BANI” framework, which can help leaders find clarity and courage in a chaotic world.
Mentions & Resources
Navigating the Age of Chaos: A Sense-Making Guide to a BANI World That Doesn’t Make Sense – by Angela F. Williams, Jamais Cascio, and Bob Johansen
Guest Bio
Angela F. Williams is President and CEO of United Way Worldwide (UWW). With more than 30 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and corporate sectors, Angela brings her innovative vision and a long history of purpose-driven work to her role at United Way Worldwide.
Angela is bi-vocational; serving as an ordained minister, attorney, and civil society executive. She jointly integrates her faith and professional expertise into many aspects of her community impact work and cites her faith as a source of optimism and belief that everyone deserves to live in thriving communities.
In recognition of her bold leadership and impact, Angela was named a 2025 USA Today Woman of the Year, a national distinction celebrating women who have made significant contributions to their communities and industries by breaking barriers and uplifting others.
Angela has also been featured in the NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50 list from 2022-2024, the Forbes’ 2021 List of Women Over 50 Creating Social Change at Scale, Inside Philanthropy’s List of the 50 Most Powerful Women in U.S. Philanthropy, and Virginia Business’ Virginia 500 Power List of Prominent Leaders for Nonprofits/Philanthropy. She is also the recipient of a 2021 CEO Today Healthcare Award.
Before joining United Way, Angela was President and CEO of Easterseals, the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of life-changing disability services. She also served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps for more than six years; led as an Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Administration Officer at YMCA of the USA; served as an interfaith liaison for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund; was special counsel on criminal law for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff; and worked as a prosecutor on the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s National Church Arson Task Force and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Angela 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.
Transcript
Transcript will be uploaded upon the episode’s premiere.