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Alumni Association Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Award
RASHAWNDA WILLIAMS ’17
Honoring one or more members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated exceptional service to the College for at least 25 years as an alumna/alumnus, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend.
When Rashawnda Williams arrived at Skidmore, she had already earned recognition as a “slam poet, activist, and youth writing ambassador” from 826 DC, the nonprofit that helps primary and secondary school students develop creative and expository writing skills. At Skidmore, Rashawnda continued to use her voice to grow as a writer and as a social justice advocate and educator, weaving both into her academic goals. The experience set her on the path to a remarkable career that is also a passion.
Today, she is an educator focused on increasing representation in the technology ecosystem. As DEI program manager for Google Developer Studio, Rashawnda plans, executes, and manages ongoing operations for the Black+ Developer Tech Career Training program. Previously, she was a Writer’s Room coordinator for 826 Boston. As a fellow of Prospect Hill Academy Charter School, she taught high school history at the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy.
A Skidmore sociology major, Rashawnda became a facilitator in the Intergroup Relations Program. Through IGR, she had the opportunity to teach a college-level course in social justice education, a seminal experience that provided her with tools essential to her career.
She went on to earn an M.Ed. from Boston University with a focus in teaching and curriculum. She also holds a Certificate in Community Leadership and Social Change from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice at Tufts University.
“Skidmore was the beginning of my consciousnessraising journey,” Rashawnda observes. Her writing and poetry explore the intersection of education and social identities related to class, race, gender, ability, and sexuality. She sees her work as “a reflection of my identity, but also a response to injustice and call to action.” As a student leader, Rashawnda’s advocacy lent urgency to include Black and ethnic studies in the curriculum, measures long called for by students of color. She and her peers pushed for the creation of a campus space dedicated to hosting discussions and events related to social justice, and an informal gathering place for students of color, first-generation students, and members of the LGBTQ community.
In her junior year, she published a letter of solidarity on Black culture website Blavity after student activists of color at the University of Missouri were targeted with verbal and physical threats. Rashawnda also read at her first solo poetry showcase at Troy Kitchen’s “Poetic Vibe” and at a Harvard Book Store book launch event for Amber Tamblyn’s debut novel, Any Man.
After graduation, she was involved with 826 Boston as program manager of Burke High School Writers’ Room and DE&I Council co-chair. In that capacity, she contributed to the 2021 anthology To My Kin, a collection of student writings on the theme of Black joy, initiated by author Thaddeus Miles at the height of the pandemic.
Rashawnda’s credits Skidmore mentors with “laying the foundation” of her professional life. Those mentors have included professors Jennifer Mueller, Amon Emeka, and Bernardos Rios; former IGR director Kristi Ford and Opportunity Program Director Kelli Johnson.
“Accepting this award at my fifth Skidmore Reunion is an honor and warms my heart,” Rashawnda observes. “But it’s an even greater feeling to see that the initiatives my peers and I advocated for … have been realized.”
— Rashawnda Williams ’17
