Allison Williams, Artsci’09, may be the new president of the Queen’s University Alumni Association (QUAA), but getting involved at Queen’s is nothing new for the Toronto-based lawyer.
Back when Williams was still a young Queen’s undergrad majoring in Political Studies and minoring in Women’s Studies, she did everything from participating in Queen’s Model Parliament to acting as a residence don to working at Clark Hall Pub to volunteer as the inaugural president of the Queen’s Student Alumni Association.
She gave so much to Queen’s, in fact, that when she graduated, she received the highly coveted Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award for her service to the university.
She continued that service well after graduation, too. Most recently, she spent four years as the QUAA board’s director of alumni giving.
So why such dedication to her alma mater?
In a word, “gratitude,” she says.
“Queen’s laid my foundation. I honestly believe that I would not be on the trajectory I’m on now had it not been for my time there. It really expanded my worldview.”
Williams grew up in the northwestern Ontario community of Emo, population 1,300. When picking a university, she thought she’d stick closer to home at the University of Manitoba, but an inspiring English teacher who went to Queen’s helped her change her mind last minute.
“And I’m so glad I did,” says Williams.
Although she majored in Political Studies, she says it was her Women’s Studies courses that piqued her interest in social justice and a career in a “helping profession.” Now she’s doing just that as a lawyer at Justice for Children and Youth, a legal-services organization for young people based in the Toronto area but with a provincial mandate.
That attention to social justice has also been part of her work with the QUAA, which over the past few years has been particularly focused on ensuring it serves the entire alumni community in all its diversity.
As the new president, Willliams says she is looking to build on that diversity focus while also emphasizing “meaningful engagement of our members in the life and work of the university.”
And she has lots of ideas of how to do that.
One of her priorities is to lead the continued redesign of the board structure, which her predecessor Colin McLeod, Artsci’10, began. The restructure includes the formation of alumni volunteer committees, so the collaborative work of the board and its engagement is more reflective of the diverse alumni community it serves.
She also wants to make to the QUAA board more visible by building and strengthening its connections with donors, volunteers, students, and other groups and leaders across the university.
In short, Williams wants to the QUAA to be something the university can leverage, especially in these challenging times.
“We want to be a bit more agile, nimble, and a highly engaged group that Queen’s staff can look to as role models and partners,” she says.
