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MU
RIEL BOWSER
MAYOR
February 2, 2026
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman
Council of the District of Columbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 504
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Chairman Mendelson:
In accordance with section 2 of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-
142; D.C. Official Code § 1-523.01), and pursuant to section 102 of the Commission on Poverty
Establishment Amendment Act of 2020, effective March 16, 2021 (D.C. Law 23-184; D.C. Official
Code § 3-641.02), I am pleased to nominate the following individual:
Ms. Khadijah Williams
Fairmont Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(Ward 1)
for reappointment as an at -large representative member of t he Commission on Poverty, for a t erm to
end January 1, 2028.
Enclosed, you will find biographical information detailing the experience of the above-m entioned
nominee, together with a proposed resolution to assist the Council during the confirmation process.
I would appreciate the Council’s earliest consideration of this nomination for confirmation. Please
do not hesitate to contact me, or Steven Walker, Director, Mayor’s Office of Talent and
Appointments, should the Council require additional information.
Sincerely,
Muriel B owser
Mayor
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~~ hairman Phil Mendelson
at the request of the Mayor
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
10 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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15 To confirm the reappointment of Khadijah Williams to the Commission on Poverty.
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17 RESOLVED , BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA , That this
18 resolution may be cited as the "Commission on Poverty Khadijah Williams Confirmation
19 Resolution of 2026".
20 Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia confirms the reappointment of:
21
n Kh~~~lli~
23 Fairmont Street, NW
24 Washington, DC 20009
25 (Ward 1)
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27 as an at-large representative member of the Commission on Poverty, established by section 102
28 of the Commission on Poverty Establishment Amendment Act of 2020, effective March 16, 2021
29 (D.C . Law 23-184; D.C. Official Code§ 3-641.02), for a term to end January 1, 2028.
30 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit a copy of this resolution,
31 upon its adoption, to the nominee and to the Office of the Mayor.
32 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
Khadijah Williams
Experience
LIFT, Inc, Washington, DC March 2023 - Present
Break the cycle of poverty by investing in parents through cash + coaching.
National Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy July 2025 - Present
Additional duties include building organizational capacity to independently implement policy and advocacy campaigns
across 4 regions; coordinate cross-functionally with Finance and Operations, Development and Communications, and
Executive Directors, and Learning and Evaluation to integrate policy and advocacy into operational systems, job descriptions,
and budget, evaluation and impact; and create and implement organization-wide training and development on policy
practice and tactics.
National Director, Policy and Advocacy March 2023 - June 2025
Lead systems change, strategy development, define intended outcomes, design activities, and coordinate cross-
departmentally and regionally to implement and measure outcomes on brand new advocacy and policy growth strategy to
center families in policy and champion policies supportive of the economic development of families in poverty.
Rocketship Public Schools, Washington, DC January 2019 – February 2023
Support low-income communities without quality schools through 22 public charter schools across the country.
Senior Manager, Family and Community Engagement August 2021- Present
● To increase attendance, led region-wide strategy resulting in regional home visit completion rate increasing from
25% to 40% before start of school, and attendance rate increasing from 70% to 89% year over year.
● T rained principals across DC and school leaders across 22 schools on attendance and research-backed
family-engagement strategies affecting 10,000 students.
● Successfully advocat ed for creating position; position replicated in two regions.
● O ne of 20 staff selected for Rising Leaders Program, which aims to create a pipeline of future leaders.
Senior Education Organizer January 2019 - August 2021
Identified, developed, trained, and organized parent leaders for community change.
● Launched School Sit e Council, school-level Board of Directors for shared decision-making with families.
● Launched Community Conversations to center families in political campaigns.
● Made r ecommendations based on data analysis resulting in increased engagement during Covid-19.
● Developed Solutions Lab on Community Violence to create space for community and decision maker policy
co-creation. Shared recommendations with the new Mayoral Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Attendees
included several Council members and two members of press.
DC State Board of Education, Washington, DC January 2015 - January 2019
Provide policy leadership, support, advocacy, and oversight of DC public education.
Legislative Affairs Specialist, Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education April 2018 - January 2019
Khadijah Williams
Leveraged casework trends to influence policy and advocacy while supporting creation of a national model by:
● Advocating for cr eation of position to support an “activist ombudsman” strategy.
● Re fining data analysis resulting in enhanced data reporting capabilities, and 100% increase in data requests from
and standing meetings with local, national, and federal education policy decision-makers.
● Presenting to local and national decision-makers alongside Ombudsman.
● Conducting r esearch and liaising with content experts to draft policy recommendations on Response to
Intervention (RtI), McKinney Vento, transportation, truancy, special education, Every Student Succeeds Act, and
enrollment, resulting in policy changes in the District’s special education, discipline, and equity policies.
● Super vising, recruiting, and selecting nine classes of graduate student Ombudsman Fellows.
Program Associate, Student Advocate and Ombudsman Offices November 2015 - April 2018
● Advocat ed for creation of position, and revamped operational systems for case management resulting in a 50%
decrease in resolution time, and enhanced supervision contributing to increased budget and FTEs.
● Wrote parent-friendly technical guidance on special education used across all 8 Wards in DC.
● Assist ed Chief Student Advocate in development of program procedures, reporting, and framework.
● Resolved over 300 complaints between schools and families through mediation and individual coaching.
● O versaw Harvard Law Negotiation Clinic in development of special education conflict resolution continuum.
Ombudsman Fellow, Office of the Ombudsman January - November 2015
Resolved complaints and concerns between schools and families.
Research Assistant, edCount, Washington, DC June - November 2014
Assisted in research, analysis, and editing of resources for states and school districts to support with client retention.
Special Projects Associate, I’m First! Initiative, Bethesda, MD May - August 2014
An online community celebrating college students who are the first in their families to go to college.
Assisted Executive Director and Development Director in fundraising and student engagement efforts for national
organization supporting first-generation college students.
Project Manager, Amplify, Inc., Brooklyn, NY July 2013 - May 2014
Leading the way in high-quality, next-generation curricula and assessments.
Assisted education technology company in ensuring that our core curriculum incorporated Universal Design principles.
Advisory Experience
Board Member, Congressional Research Institute for Social Work & Policy,
Washington DC, Chair, Strategic Planning Committee
February 2024 - Present
CRISP launched with a commitment to expanding social workers’ engagement with Congress and the federal government.
Fair Budget Coalition, Steering Committee Member, Washington DC November 2024 - Present
Premier coalition focusing on restorative and community-led fair budget
Serve as steering committee member, advising on overall program and campaign strategy.
Commissioner, Commission on Poverty, Washington DC, ‘25 Interim Vice Chair January 2024 - Present
Khadijah Williams
Commissioners, appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by Council, in partnership with the Executive Director evaluate
current and previous poverty reduction initiatives, and make recommendations to the Mayor and Council for ending poverty
in DC.
Bright Beginnings, Board Member, Washington DC October 2023- Present
Meeting the needs of children and families experiencing housing instability in DC
Serve on the Personnel Committee and serve as a board member overseeing fiduciary and strategic oversight.
Board Member and ‘24 Institute Co-Chair, New Leaders Council DC, Washington, DC July 2023 - Present
NLC develops, connects, and uplifts inclusive, cross-sector leaders who transform our country through social and political
change rooted in equity.
Co-lead institute in NLC DC, a 6-month leadership program which creates space for intensive leadership development and
meaningful connection with other changemakers across issues, industries, and identities.
Board Member, Network of Intersectional Professionals, New York NY September 2023 - Present
Designing human-centered systems from the ground up.
Serve as DC region lead, Board Member, and strategic advisor for The Network of Intersectional Professionals, a community
of people with personal and professional experience of human-serving systems.
Housing Narrative Lab, Advisory Committee Member, Washington DC May 2023 - Present
Changing the story so that everyone has a place to call home
Strategic Advisor, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2023- Present
RWJF is a leading national philanthropy paving the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right
Serve in a variety of paid and appointed advisory roles for RWJF, including for consultants, RWJF projects, and initiatives,
conferences, models and tools, and reports.
Strategic Advisor, Soles4Souls, Old Hickory, TN (remote, part-time consultant) July 2021 - March 2024
Provide new, name brand shoes to every homeless child in the U.S.
Provide thought leadership, professional speaking, and toolkits to support 4EveryKid initiative.
National Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council Member, Rocketship Public Schools August 2021 - February 2023
Internal advisory committee to increase pipeline of director-level leaders of color across Rocketship’s 22 schools, address
equity-gaps in hiring, promotion, and treatment of staff from underrepresented groups, and monitor progress.
Board Member, National Homelessness Law Center May 2018 - Present
The only national legal group dedicated to ending and preventing homelessness.
Chair, Strategic Planning Committee: Oversee, in partnership with ED, development of 5-10 year organizational strategy
Advisory Council Member/Consultant, New Profit, 2023-24 Economic Mobility
Catalyze Cohort, Boston, MA (remote)
July 2023 - 2024
New Profit, a national venture philanthropy organization, supports both organizations and ecosystem-building efforts aimed
at advancing economic opportunity in America.
Khadijah Williams
Education
Harvard College, A.B. in Sociology, Cambridge, MA May 2013
Course work: Research for Nonprofits; Communications, Advocacy, and Public Affairs.
Activities and Societies: Harvard Parliamentary Debate Association (2009-10), Philips Brooks House Association (2010-11),
Peer Advising Fellows (2011-13)
Awards: Center for Political Studies Dissertation Research Fellowship
E
xecutive Office of the Mayor – Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments
John A. Wilson Building | 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 600 | Washington, DC 20004
Kh
adijah Williams
M
s. Khadijah Williams is the National Senior Director of Policy and
Advocacy at LIFT, a national anti -poverty organization dedicated to
advancing family economic mobility through cash and coaching,
humanizing social service systems, and centering community voice. In
this role, she leads LIFT’s Policy and Advocacy strategy across four
regions, including DC, collaborating cross-functionally to build the
infrastructure, evaluation systems, and coalitions that translate lived
experience into lasting systems change.
Drawing on her own experience of poverty and homelessness, years of
work in policy, and family and community engagement work, Ms.
Williams brings both lived and professional expertise to her leadership.
She directs the development of regional and national policy agendas focused on guaranteed
income, child tax credit expansion, childcare, TANF, and the integration of coaching into public
benefits systems. Her work has helped position LIFT as a leading “service-advocacy hybrid”
model recognized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Innovation Network for its
impact in aligning direct services with policy reform.
Ms. Williams currently chairs the Strategic Planning Committee of the National Homelessness
Law Center. She is also on the board for DC's Bright Beginnings.
A Ward 1 resident, Ms. Williams earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Harvard College.
GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser
Office of the General Counsel to the Mayor
______________________________________________________________________________
The John A. Wilson Building • 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW • Suite 300 • Washington, D.C. 20004 • Office (202) 724-7681
To: Tomas Talamante, Steve Walker
From: Betsy Cavendish
Date: January 13, 2026
Subject: Legal sufficiency review of Resolution s nominating David Schultz, Isaac Harris,
YaVonne Boyd, Lamar Richards, Cesar Toledo , Elijah Moses, Khadijah
Williams, Marla Dean, Debra Kilpatrick Byrd, Patricia Stamper, and Nechama
Masliansky as members of the Commission on Poverty
This is to Certify that this office has reviewed the above -referenced resolution s and
found them to be legally unobjectionable. If you have any questions in this regard, please do not
hesitate to call Erika Satterlee, Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of the Mayor, at 202-
724-1303, or me at 202-724-7681.
______________________________
Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Cavendish