Emily C. Williams is the CEO of the UCLA-UCSF ACEs Aware Family Resilience Network (UCAAN), housed within the  UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. UCAAN operates the ACEs Aware initiative, which is committed to reducing the toxic stress  resulting from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by 50 percent within one generation. UCAAN is the brainchild of former California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and is financed by the CA Department of Healthcare Services.

Emily also operates a consultancy, Emily Presents, through which she delivers training and strategic guidance on communications, diversity, equity, leadership, organizational development, policy, and related subjects. At the height of the pandemic, she served as the lead strategist on the County of Los Angeles’ groundbreaking initiative to embrace remote work as a permanent reality and reimagine the workplace of the future for its employees.

For six years, she served as Senior Policy Deputy for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. In her role, she shaped budget, legislative, equity, and human services policy for the largest County in the nation and oversaw child welfare, education, social services, and workforce development initiatives for the district’s two million constituents. Prior to joining the County, Emily worked for The Princeton Review, the Feminist Majority Foundation, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) and the City of Los Angeles. During her 14-year career with the City, she worked first as a policy advisor with the Human Relations Commission, then as a civilian commander overseeing non-tactical training for the Los Angeles Fire Department, and finally as deputy chief of staff to former City Councilmember (now U.S. Representative) Tony Cárdenas (CA-29).

Emily earned a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA and an M.P.P. from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, where she was recognized as Alumna of the Year in 2005 and currently serves as a Senior Fellow. She was also a 2017-18 Fellow with the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. She is an adjunct instructor at the Los Angeles Police Academy, a founding board member of A Better LA, and a former board member of the American Association of University Women – Beach Cities branch. She is currently a member of the SAM Initiative, the Polytechnic School Alumni Board, and the New Village Girls Academy Board of Directors.

Employer: Hon. Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Profile: linkedin.com/in/emilypresents
Twitter: @emilypresents
Media: CityWatchLA, UCLA Luskin, UCLA Luskin, Los Angeles Sentinel