Influential Woman · Marketing Communications Higher Education

Lauren Benning Williams

Vice President of Communications and Marketing, University of the District of Columbia

Washington, DC 20011

2Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bowie State University (undergraduate Degree Small business class with Dr. Marshall) Degree Trinity University Degree Washington (master's program)

Her Story

About Lauren

I work in marketing communications in higher education, where I take a holistic approach to organizational identity. I believe every interaction matters, from how we schedule campus tours to ensuring facilities are clean, classrooms are activated, and landscaping is fresh when prospective students visit. At GW, I launched the GW Business and Policy Forum in partnership with Mary Catherine, the director of marketing at the business school. It was a multi-school convening of academic researchers, corporations, and public partners focused on AI, and it sold out with great attendance and talent. I approach my job as being an image consultant for large organizations, constantly thinking about how every detail, from the physical environment to office interactions, makes an impression that impacts someone's decision to apply, invest, or donate. I often find myself getting pulled into things that other professionals in my space probably wouldn't, but I enjoy helping organizations think strategically about their identity from top to bottom. Currently, I work at the University of Columbia under President Maurice Eddington, who has become a mentor to me. In the next few years, I see myself as a Chief Brand Officer or Chief Identity Officer, because I believe what I do is bigger than just marketing.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Lauren

01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice I've received came from my mentors at different stages of my career. Dr. Marshall at Bowie State taught me the difference between working smart and working hard. He said some people think if you work hard you get places, but he argued you've got to work smart. You have to always be thinking, always be strategizing. You need to be playing chess, not checkers. Then Dr. Peggy Lewis, who worked in the White House Press Secretary's office during Bill Clinton's administration and became my professor and later dean at Trinity University, told me that if you're not getting up at 4:30 a.m. and ready to start your day, you're already behind. She was basically saying the early bird gets the worm. The person who's showing up early, constantly thinking in advance, planning in advance, they set themselves up to advance. If you're going to just be pushed around by life, you're going to struggle. You weren't early, you weren't showing up in advance. And currently, President Maurice Eddington at the University of Columbia offers me mentorship in our one-on-ones. His advice is typically not just 'do this thing and this will happen,' but rather a system that you have to work. He'll tell you there's path A, path B, path C, and when you work this system and choose one of those paths through that process, you will still find that you're gonna get done what you need to get done.

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