Gary Williams: 'The Work I Was Doing in Class Was Relevant in My Career'
July 20, 2020
Contact: Office of Government and Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
"Usually a lot of folks, we care about community, we want to make Baltimore better, but I really walked out feeling like I have a set of tools in my toolkit from this experience that I can really use to be an effective change maker."
Gary Williams earned his master's degree from the University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs Nonprofit Management and Social Entrepreneurship program in 2018.
Even before he graduated, he was able to apply lessons from class to his job at the time.
"I remember been given a home assignment and then the next week that was a task I had to do at work. It was create a logic model for a program. And then the next week my supervisor came in literally saying, 'Hey Gary, I need you to create a logic model for this program.' So I was able to say the work I was doing in class was actually relevant to the work I was going to be doing and am currently doing in my career."
Today, Williams is the deputy director of programs for Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program (Baltimore Corps) that focuses on leadership development. He is constantly finding new value in his lessons from UB.
Williams said he chose Nonprofit Management and Social Entrepreneurship because he wanted a program that fit and built from experiences he was getting in the nonprofit sector. Not only did he gain the skills he wanted, but his master's degree helped him finally break into the leadership roles he always wanted. Evening classes made it easy to fit his degree around his full-time job and family.
"I took the circuitous route of graduate school; it took me a little longer to finish but, I felt like it was worth it because it was directly relatable and it made me a better change agent. I had the knowledge to be effective."
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