Kayla M. Williams

Kayla M. Williams is the assistant secretary, Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affair. Prior to rejoining VA, Kayla Williams most recently was senior fellow and director of the Military, Veterans and Society Program at Center for a New American Security. Williams previously served as director of the Center for Women Veterans at VA, where she was primary adviser to the secretary on department policies, programs and legislation affecting women Veterans. Williams also served eight years at RAND researching service member and Veteran health needs and benefits, international security and intelligence policy. Ms. Williams previously served as Director of the Center for Women Veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she was the primary adviser to the Secretary on department policies, programs, and legislation affecting women veterans. In this role, she also oversaw all Center activities, which include monitoring VA’s administration of health care and benefits services for women veterans, conceptualized and implemented multiple innovative campaigns to raise awareness of women as veterans, and dramatically increased the Center’s outreach to women veterans on modern platforms. Kayla previously spent eight years at the RAND Corporation conducting qualitative and quantitative research on military and veteran policies and programs, including the effectiveness of efforts to support wounded warriors and transitioning service members; sexual harassment and assault in the military; psychological and cognitive injuries, their consequences, and services to assist recovery; and education benefits.

Ms. Williams was enlisted for five years as an Arabic linguist, serving in a Military Intelligence company of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). She is the author of Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army, a memoir about her deployment to Iraq, and Plenty of Time When We Get Home: Love and Recovery in the Aftermath of War, about her family's journey from war trauma to healing. Kayla graduated cum laude with a BA in English Literature from Bowling Green State University and earned an MA in International Affairs with a focus on the Middle East from American University. She is a member of the Department of Labor Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach; a former member of the VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans; and recipient of recognitions including 2013 White House Woman Veteran Champion of Change, 2015 Lincoln Award recipient, 2017 We Are the Mighty 25 Veterans to Watch, and 2018 HillVets 100 Top Influencer.