Lorelei Williams has been named the Interim Executive Director of The Sister Fund. Williams has over fifteen years of experience in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors of the United States, South Africa and Brazil. As a consultant, she advises foundations and nonprofit organizations on strategic planning, organizational development, program design and evaluation. Her clients have included the Ford Foundation, the Brazil Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, The Steve Biko Institute of Brazil and the Project People Foundation, among others. Williams has also served as Co-Chair of the Civil Society Committee for the U.S. State Department’s U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to End Racism (JAPER).
As a Fulbright fellow in Brazil, she founded the POMPA project in partnership with the Steve Biko Institute to train Afro-Brazilian youth for public service careers. POMPA students successfully graduated college, interned in the city’s major institutions, launched their own nonprofits and secured full-time positions in the Bahia State Legislative Assembly, the Secretary of Education and similar institutions.
Prior to her work in philanthropy and community development, Williams worked as an Analyst at Accenture, Production Editor for the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy and Director of the Urban Improvement Corps. She holds a B.A. from Yale University in Political Science and African American Studies and a Master's Degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Williams was born and raised in the South Bronx and Harlem.