by Danielle Boyd | Mar 12, 2012 | News Slider
Neely Williams, an adjunct professor in the department of Communication and Journalism, is a long time community leader, educator, minister and activist for non-violence in youth engagement. Williams, who has been formally involved with the Nashville community for nearly 30 years, said her journey into community outreach began through participation in Vacation Bible School at a local church where four young men spoke about living with HIV/AIDS. As a part of the men’s presentation, “the Red Cross was there, inviting people from the community to get trained and be advocates and spokespersons about the disease,” Williams said. It was 1985, during the height of learning about HIV/AIDs. Williams stepped out into the inner city of the Nashville community to educate people on the disease. “I call this my formal step into the community because I have always been involved in nursing homes and wherever there was a need,” Williams said. Even at an early age, Williams had a heart for helping people and uniting cultures. “I like to say I built my first coalition on the Kindergarten playground,” she said, “because I am innately a person that says everybody should play and get an opportunity to have the ball. And I spent a lot of days trying to make sure those who were not chosen got a chance to play anyway.” Deciding to go back to school to obtain a degree at Vanderbilt University, Williams became trained as a chaplain, which furthered her community outreach with the Metropolitan Interdenominational Church. Since 1996, Williams has worked directly and indirectly with the outreach ministries of the Metropolitan Church in the north Nashville community....
