Erica Williams

Deputy Director for Progress 2050

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Erica Williams is the Deputy Director of Progress 2050, a project of the Center for American Progress that develops new ideas for an increasingly diverse America. The project seeks to build a progressive agenda that is more inclusive and reflects the rich racial and ethnic makeup of the nation. Progress 2050 does this by promoting innovative policy ideas, facilitating honest dialogue about the intersection of race and policy, analyzing demographics, and developing new leaders.

Listed by Politico.com as one of Top 50 Politicos to Watch, she is the former Deputy Director and Policy Manager of Campus Progress, the youth outreach arm of the Center where she still serves as a senior advisor. While there, she led the staff and network of young Americans in advancing progressive policy with and for 18- to 27-year-olds across the nation. Her advocacy work focused on economic mobility, equal opportunity, health care, and clean energy.

Before joining the Center for American Progress, Erica worked at the Leadership Conference on Civil Right to coordinate grassroots activity in nearly 45 states to advance effective civil and human rights legislation at the federal level.

She is a past participant of the American University Women and Political Leadership Training Program, a 2008 O Magazine Women Rule Leadership winner, and a 2008 Aspen Institute IDEAS fellow.

Williams has appeared on CNN, C-Span, "The Tavis Smiley Show," "Focus Earth with Bob Woodruff," and BBC among others. She has been widely quoted in various print publications such as U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post, O Magazine, and The Nation.

Email: elwilliams /@\ americanprogress.org