Title:Advancing gender equity at Georgetown

As a member of the women’s track and field team during her undergraduate years, Jamillah Bowman Williams (B’03) won acclaim as an All-American sprinter and hurdler, but she appreciated that Georgetown viewed her as a student first. She also appreciated the university’s dedication to social justice—one of the reasons she returned to teach at Georgetown Law after earning her master’s, Ph.D., and J.D. degrees. 

This year, she will continue to advance this commitment as the inaugural associate vice president of gender equity and chair of the Gender Equity Committee. Williams will deepen and expand Georgetown’s commitment to gender equity among faculty and senior leadership, facilitate the implementation of the committee’s recommendations, and identify new areas of work.

“My research has been focused on anti-discrimination law to examine some of the hierarchies we see play out in society, more specifically some of the systemic inequalities, whether in the context of education, health, or the workplace,” Williams says. “How do we grapple with them? How do we navigate them? How do we change the systems to help more people thrive?

“My scholarship explores race, gender, and economic justice, and I specialize in empirical analysis. That skill set is helpful here. Georgetown has gathered a lot of data, so I am taking a deep dive into the data to better assess our core needs and next steps.” 

In this role, Williams will work with Rosemary Kilkenny, vice president for institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Gender Equity Committee, as well as the executive vice presidents of the main campus, medical school, and law center.

“I look forward to engaging with faculty to both develop and disseminate knowledge,” Williams says. “I would like to help build connections and community across the university to offer a network of collaboration and support.”

Williams believes that increasing gender equity will make for a stronger Georgetown.

“Gender equity is of central importance to any Jesuit institution committed to social justice,” Williams says. “This work offers an opportunity to unleash all of the talent and potential that our students and faculty have. I think we have the best and brightest, but sometimes there are things that can hinder their journeys. Once you uncover some of those barriers and tackle them, you have even more to offer as a university.”