Kenita T. Williams

Dr. Kenita T. Williams joined the Southern Education Foundation in 2017 and serves as the chief operating officer. Kenita is responsible for the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the organization, as well as the implementation of SEF’s programmatic priorities. Additionally, Kenita represents SEF’s values and efforts to key external partners and serves as a thought partner to the president and CEO—helping to create the organizational systems, processes, and culture that ensure that SEF is as catalytic and impactful as possible. Kenita brings a wide range of knowledge and critical experience to SEF, having held positions in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She has served as the partnerships manager for Atlanta Public Schools and as senior program manager for Public Policy at the Southeastern Council of Foundations. She spent several years as a consultant for JFM Consulting Group and worked on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Correspondent for then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama. Kenita is also a Teach for America alumna and spent three years teaching third grade in Atlanta. Kenita earned her bachelor’s in political science and history from Yale University, her Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, a teaching certificate from Georgia State University, and her doctorate of education degree from Johns Hopkins University.