Wendy Walker Williams

Wendy Walker Williams currently serves as the Assistant Vice President for Community Partnerships and Impact in the University’s Office of Civic Engagement and a Senior Executive on Loan to the Du Sable Museum of Black History and Education Center. Wendy ensures community stakeholders are informed and engaging in UChicago's core areas of civic engagement work, including but not limited to support for local entrepreneurship, community safety, and neighborhood development. She also helps to advance community engagement strategies that build strong partnerships and connect community stakeholders across the mid-South Side to the breadth of University resources. 

Wendy has over 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, civic engagement, planning, and community development. She is formerly the Executive Director of the South East Chicago Commission (SECC), a nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life in the Kenwood, Oakland, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, and Washington Park communities. She led the programmatic shift from enforcing building codes and tracking crime statistics to strengthening the neighborhoods through economic and community development initiatives. Under Wendy’s leadership, SECC led the effort to designate 53rd Street, Hyde Park's main retail corridor, as a Special Service Area, branding it “Downtown Hyde Park.  
Before joining SECC, Wendy served as an Assistant Commissioner for the South Region of Neighborhood Planning in the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Deputy Director of Finance and Administration for Gallery 37, and Senior Program Manager for the Office of Community Relations and Involvement at the Chicago Housing Authority. Currently, she serves as Chairman of the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC), Board Member of the ACLU Illinois, and Trustee and Secretary for the Du Sable Museum of Black History and Education Center. She is also active in many national and local civic organizations. Wendy received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Hampton University and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Roosevelt University.