Erika Williams

Erika joined the Governing Board in the 2024-25 school year. She has one son in fourth grade and a daughter in first grade. Erika recently moved back to Atlanta—her second time calling the city home—after spending ten years here from 2006 to 2016. She brings over 25 years of philanthropic experience having worked with the Morgan Stanley Foundation, Pierre & Tana Matisse Foundation and the Heinrich Bell Foundation in Berlin, Germany. She most recently managed a $350M portfolio of investments driving impact on Black economic mobility and prosperity programs for the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative. Erika has a passion for building bold ideas and helping organizations grow with purpose. Outside of work, Erika is deeply committed to community building. She’s a founding board member and former board chair of Kindezi Charter School, the first public school in the U.S. to offer class sizes of just six students, blending arts and leadership into everyday learning. Over the years, she has also poured her time and energy into grassroots efforts and advocacy work—whether managing marketing and vendor relations for the Southwest Atlanta Outdoor Organic Market, which promoted healthy living and local economic development, or serving as a board member and Public Policy Chair for the Georgia Association on Young Children, where she championed policies to support early childhood education. Erika spent a year in Germany as a transatlantic fellow with the Robert Bosch Foundation and can still speak a little German—though she’ll admit it’s a bit rusty. These days, you’ll most likely find her outside walking, camping, or exploring with her husband and two kids. She’s always up for a good adventure, a thoughtful conversation, or just a quiet moment soaking in the sunshine.