Ben Williams is a director at Jobs for the Future.
He leads a team that supports the scaling of short-term, online, employer-developed credential programs that prepare learners for tech jobs. He also helps community colleges engage and mobilize employers in efforts to promote learner and worker success.
A passionate and collaborative leader, Ben has more than 20 years of experience in higher education, community college administration, and nonprofit leadership. He also has extensive experience in career and technical education (CTE) and workforce development at the local, state, and national levels.
Before joining JFF, he served as executive director of technical programs for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, where he helped launch statewide high school articulation and built systems to support expansion of credit for prior learning programs.
Ben also served in a variety of roles, including CEO, at the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, where he was principal investigator on several National Science Foundation-funded projects and provided professional development and technical assistance for initiatives designed to close equity gaps in STEM and CTE programs.
Ben says working at JFF gives him an exciting opportunity to collaborate with passionate and highly skilled individuals on efforts to build and scale processes, systems, and supports that drive economic advancement for all.
He holds a master’s degree in student affairs and higher education and a PhD in educational policy and leadership from The Ohio State University, as well as a bachelor’s in psychology and philosophy from Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
In his free time, Ben loves to travel and spend time with family and friends. He met his wife of over 25 years when they were both teaching English in Japan! Ben is the proud father of two children, one of whom is in college and the other not too far behind.
