Dr. Natasha Williams, EdD, MBA
Dr. Natasha Williams, EdD, MBA, is a seasoned social services leader, educator, and advocate based in West Memphis, Arkansas. She serves as a Director of Housing, Housing Program Manager, and Domestic Violence Program Manager with Agape Child & Family Services, where she oversees programs designed to provide safe housing, stability, and comprehensive support to individuals and families in need. With a strong foundation in educational leadership and business administration, she brings both strategic oversight and a compassionate, trauma-informed approach to managing programs that serve vulnerable populations, consistently working to restore hope and promote long-term self-sufficiency.
Throughout her 15-year career in social services, Dr. Williams has remained committed to serving vulnerable populations, a thread that has connected every role she has held. She began her career in foster care, working specifically with difficult-to-place children, including males of color, teenage mothers, and sibling groups, helping them find stable and supportive homes. She later transitioned into higher education, teaching criminal justice at Remington College, where she continued serving vulnerable individuals—some of whom were former foster youth. She then trained foster parents in state-mandated professional development, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to advocate for and support the children in their care. When she transitioned into domestic violence services at Agape, she took the initiative to deepen her understanding of trauma and its impact, recognizing the complexities survivors face and the reality that it often takes multiple attempts before leaving an abusive situation permanently.
Today, Dr. Williams manages a transitional housing program funded by a federal grant from the Office on Violence Against Women, offering single-family apartment units alongside intensive wraparound case management. Her approach is rooted in meeting clients where they are, using a voice-and-choice philosophy that empowers individuals to define their own goals while she walks alongside them with guidance, accountability, and compassion. She supports clients in overcoming barriers such as education, employment, healthcare access, and basic needs, while providing resources including housing, transportation, food assistance, childcare support, and life skills preparation. Grounded in empathy and structure, she balances policy-driven accountability with dignity and respect, ensuring each client feels valued and supported. Through her work, Dr. Williams remains dedicated to restoring hope one client at a time, helping survivors rebuild their lives with confidence, stability, and self-determination.
• Arkansas State University - BA, Criminology
• University of Phoenix - MBA
• University of Phoenix - EdD, Educational Leadership and Administration, General
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to always having a passion to help and a passion for education and social services - I really feel like they're interchangeable because so many problems in the classroom stem from situations at home. Throughout my career, I've always worked with vulnerable populations, and I think God guided me down this path. When I moved into domestic violence work, I had to educate myself about the vulnerability of survivors, understanding that it takes almost seven times before they leave and stay gone, and that they're operating in survival and crisis mode. Once I understood trauma and how it affects people, I was able to take all of my experience from foster care and education and pour it into my clients, helping them rebuild their lives piece by piece. My approach has always been to walk alongside them without judgment, with compassion and understanding, meeting them where they are and helping them focus on one thing at a time. I tell them, let's do one thing, don't focus on everything. I help them remember how to hope, because most of the time when they've forgotten they have a choice, they've forgotten how to hope. That's where I come in - I help them remember how to hope and then guide them along the way, telling them 'you can do this' even when someone told them they couldn't. I'm policy-driven and hold them accountable, but I do it with love, making sure they feel respected and valued. My success comes from healing the whole person, not just addressing what happened, but making sure they know they're valued and creating a calm, inviting space where they and their children can feel safe and normal again.