Verna Williams

Verna L. Williams is Chief Executive Officer of Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for lawyers to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service by bringing together law students, lawyers, legal services organizations and supporters.

Williams joined Equal Justice Works after serving as the first African-American dean and Nippert Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Law. A founder and co-director of the college’s Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice, Williams’ research examined the intersection of race, gender and class in areas such as education law and policy.

Before joining the faculty at UC, she was Vice President and Director of Educational Opportunities at the National Women’s Law Center, where she focused on issues of gender equity in education. In that capacity, Williams was lead counsel and successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, which established that the federal Title IX law requires educational institutions to address known complaints of student-to-student sexual harassment.

Williams also practiced at the U.S. Department of Justice and the multinational firm of Sidley Austin LLP. She was a clerk for U.S. District Judge David S. Nelson of Massachusetts.

Among her other achievements, Williams has presented papers at the Latina/o Critical Race Theory Conference and meetings of the Association of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. She also served as a consultant for the Ford Foundation, where she chaired the convening of a national conference at UC entitled "Women Coming Together: Claiming the Law for Social Change."

Williams received the Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching and was honored by the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati, the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Bar Association, which presented her with the Themis Award for exemplary service to the law and the community. Forbes recognized Williams by naming her to their "50 Over 50" list for her impactful work.

She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and Georgetown University.