Jan 10
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Mr. Rick Williams is currently the National Programs Director for the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation. As the national programs director, Mr. Williams leads the Foundation’s human services program areas. The focus of his responsibilities is to define, develop and implement initiatives which seek to reduce homelessness, end intergenerational poverty, and expand substance abuse treatment for children and their families. Mr. Williams serves on the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation cabinet, which provides direction for the Foundation.
Prior to joining the Foundation in September 2001, Mr. Williams served as chief operating officer for EMQ Children and Family Services, a $47 million statewide behavioral healthcare company based in San Jose, CA, that provides residential, outpatient and community-based mental health services for children and families. He also served with the Santa Clara County Mental Health Department as departmental deputy director and director of the county’s acute psychiatric services.
Throughout his 18 years of senior management experience in behavioral health care, Mr. Williams has developed numerous programs, including Santa Clara County’s first teenage pregnancy prevention program, the county’s first mental health agency devoted to serving African American families, and California’s first wrap-around services for children and families.
Mr. Williams is an accredited change management trainer and has extensive experience in program implementation.
Mr. Williams holds an M.A. in clinical psychology and organizational development from Antioch University and a B.A. in clinical psychology from Washington State University.
Some of Mr. Williams’s accomplishments & Activities include:
• Served as the Chairperson the Santa Clara County Social Services Advisory Board
• Serves on the Board of the Silicon Valley Law Foundation
• Serves on the Board of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
• Serves on the steering Committee for the Youth Transition Funders Group
• Managed organizations with annual budgets in excess of $150 million
• Established 4 regional operations across California – from start-up to full operation
• Wrote proposal for San Jose, CA first teenage pregnancy prevention program
• Develop an independent living program for young adults
• Develop one of the first Southeast Asian immigrant mental health program in San Jose, CA
• Develop first ASL counseling services for the hearing impaired in San Jose, CA
• Co-Founded San Jose’s first mental health agency devoted to serving African American families
• Managed the only 24-hour crisis response service for children in San Jose, CA
• Helped develop California’s first wraparound services for children and families
• Helped develop a program for serving youth as an alternative to placement in the children’s shelter