Her Story
About Sarah
Sarah Williams is the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization in New York, NY. With nearly 20 years in the nonprofit field, she has worked across multiple areas including 3D arts, greening, and grief support services. Her motivation stems from a desire to create positive community impact and improve people's lives through service-oriented projects.
Williams completed her graduate studies at the University of Tennessee, where she served as assistant director of the Writing Center. This role, along with early exposure to leadership through her mother's work and involvement in her church community, shaped her approach as a servant leader. She emphasizes building strong teams by recognizing individual strengths, fostering supportive environments, and learning from challenges rather than assigning blame.
In her leadership, Williams advocates for women to trust their instincts, seek support from networks, and maintain balance between work and personal life to sustain long-term effectiveness. She notes that while biases persist, many male colleagues in the nonprofit sector serve as strong advocates for female leaders.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sarah
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
One thing is to be confident because you intrinsically have a sense of what to do and the right direction, so trust yourself and lean into that. Reach out to others in your network or organization and be vulnerable with them to seek support. Also find balance in the work because it can be so consuming, put your own life first with family and yourself outside of work to avoid burnout and stay sustainable long-term.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There are always challenges for women in the workplace including nonprofit. A statistic shows when women speak 30% of the time in a meeting men perceive them as dominating. It requires being more vocal and confident as the leader which may create discomfort. However men in nonprofit have been wonderful advocates for female leaders though long-standing biases still exist.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.