Announcing New Board Chair: Cookie Williams
We are excited to announce Cookie Williams as the new Board Chair for Supportive Housing Communities. Cookie is a Corporate Governance professional in the Legal Department in the Corporate Secretary’s Office at Bank of America. She’s been with the company for more than 10 years. In addition to her work on the Subsidiary Governance & Optimization Team to analyze data, drive process improvement, and mitigate risk, Cookie is a huge supporter of volunteerism in the community.
Cookie holds the position of Co-chair of Bank of America’s Community Volunteers (BACCV) team where she leads a team of volunteer leaders in Community Development, Health & Human Services, Neighborhood Preservation, Arts & Culture and Education to provide impactful volunteer opportunities for the employees in Charlotte. She is also a Lead Better Money Habits Champion delivering financial literacy content to various audiences in organizations throughout the community. Her community involvement led her to Supportive Housing Communities (SHC)
She began her volunteer experience with SHC by participating in a Legal Relief Day, sponsored by McGuire Woods in partnership with Bank of America’s Legal Department. Cookie was impressed with the work of SHC and it had a personal connection for her. At the time, Cookie was dealing with a devastating issue in her family. One of her children was experiencing homelessness due to drug addiction and as a way of paying it forward on his behalf, she became a regular volunteer at SHC. She began with presenting life skills training, financial literacy content, and career development workshops. She was invited to join the fundraising committee, then asked to serve on the board of directors. As a board member she has served on the Governance and Executive Committees, and prior to being nominated as Board Chair, she served as Board Secretary.
Cookie has a long history of volunteering in the community and supporting causes related to education, economic mobility, affordable housing, criminal justice, and the health and well-being of others both mentally and physically. She is a native of Newark, NJ and has lived in the University/Harrisburg area of Charlotte since 2004, and currently serves as the President of her community’s HOA Board. She is married and has seven adult children and 14 grandchildren.