Yvonne Williams is an experienced strategy and operations leader committed to building the systems that allow schools, staff, and students to thrive. She currently serves as founding Chief of Staff and Operations at Great Rivers Public Schools, a new charter management organization in St. Louis incubated by The Opportunity Trust. In her inaugural role, she is building the finance, operations, governance, and talent systems a multi-site network requires before its first schools open. Previously, she spent almost a decade at Achievement First. As a school-based leader, she drove excellence within day-to-day operations supporting outstanding student outcomes at Achievement First Bushwick ES, a 2019 National Blue Ribbon school. As a Regional Director of Operations, she coached and developed seven Directors of School Operations within the New York region. In her last role at Achievement First, as Managing Director of Strategy and Special Projects, she was essential in shaping the network's strategy; her work included launching the network’s two newest schools, redesigning the Rhode Island portfolio, and leading the network’s response to federal policy shifts.

She is no stranger to founding. She began her career as a founding member of the Academy for Software Engineering. As their School Business Manager, she built out operations systems from the ground up for the first-of-its-kind high school in New York City. She also had the privilege of serving as a founding operations leader for Achievement First’s renowned Empower Program, a special education initiative supporting students with complex learning needs through inclusion, specialized instruction, and career readiness.

Yvonne is a proud product of New York City's public schools, and her high-quality educational experience fuels her conviction that every student deserves access to the same. She attended DePauw University on a full-tuition scholarship through the Posse Foundation, earning a B.A. in psychology. She also holds a Master's in Public Education Management from The Broad Center at Yale School of Management. In addition to her full-time work as an educator, she serves on DePauw's Alumni Board of Directors. As chair of the Institutional Equity Committee, she has led efforts to found the Tucker E. Wilson Black Alumni Association. Her work is grounded in stewardship, service, and the belief that strong systems are what make opportunity durable.