Academe

A Business With Heart

Dr. Williams is an adjunct professor at Strayer University.  He was featured in the Fall 2009 edition of their publication, Scholar.  The issue focused on nonprofit management.

Receiving the rare gift of a bicycle was a defining moment in Dr. Nathaniel “Nat” Williams’ life. Having been shuttled from home to home since the death of his mother, the young Williams was unused to material riches. “For the moment I was happy,” recalls the 2009 Outstanding Alumni Award winner, sitting in an office lined with plaques and mementos. “But then I realized that if I wasn’t careful, that would be the way my life would be.” That is, he’d be waiting on handouts and short-term happiness. Williams wanted more for himself and for the nine of his 11 brothers and sisters also in foster care. Today, Williams is the founder and CEO of HumanWorks Affiliates Inc., a cluster of human service organizations in Bethlehem, Pa. HumanWorks provides youth group homes, foster care, educational training and residential care for adults with disabilities, among other services. “The agency has really grown,” he says, noting that he started in 1993 with a budget of about $400,000—a far cry from today’s operating budget of more than $10 million…
Read the complete article by Leslie Quander Wooldridge in Scholar