kimberly williams, associate director

Personal Story

I grew up in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. From a young age service was something that I really enjoyed. I first started volunteering in an urban afterschool/summer program in Newark, NJ when I was 11 years old. The six years that I was a part of that ministry introduced me to a different reality than the suburban world that I had always known.

For college I went to American University in Washington, DC. My senior year I organized my campus to come together to build a playground in Southeast DC. In 8 months we raised $100,000 and organized 300 volunteers for the day of the build.

After college I moved to Oakland, CA where I participated in a yearlong volunteer program called Mission Year. There I lived in Christian community and volunteered at a local drug recovery program. Mission Year was such a formative experience for me that a few years later I came back to work on staff.

After three years with Mission Year, I went back to graduate school because I felt like I needed some time to reflect and gain some more tools for ministry. My focus of study was on self-care for urban ministers and the connections between hip hop and the church.

In the Fall of 2009 I started working at the Peace and Justice Academy, a new private secondary school in Pasadena, CA. As the Field Friday Lab Instructor I developed the curriculum and facilitated monthly field trips that allowed the students to get out of the classroom and into the world in order to learn about things like culture, class, and justice.

In June of 2011 I moved from California to Washington, DC in order to join the LV staff.