Joseph Williams

Joseph Williams serves as project director for the Detroit Enhanced Reentry Project. He and his team use research to make policy and practice recommendations that will enhance the reentry experiences of people returning from prison after serving over 20 years beginning under the age of 26. He serves as a TTA for government and community-based providers of justice-related services in urban and rural areas. He also works with a team of research and evaluation experts to perform a collaborative, formative and outcome evaluation for a national organization that works to redesign public safety systems by increasing equity for marginalized communities. 

Prior to his time at AIR, Mr. Williams served incarcerated adults and youth, the formerly incarcerated and their families in various settings. His passion for helping this segment of society is born from his own personal battles with addiction and incarceration as a teenager and young adult. The depth of his experience in designing and operating prisoner reentry programs began in 1992 when he created a national pilot program for Prison Fellowship. 

Mr. Williams operated reentry programs for 20 years, managing private, local, state, and federal grants. As a result of the innovation and success of his reentry programming, he was recognized as an outstanding social entrepreneur in 2006 by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a global organization that promotes unique ways of addressing pressing social problems. He has drawn from his decades of experience to provide consulting and training to numerous agencies and organizations around the nation. Included among his clients have been the U.S. Department of Justice, the Billy Graham Center, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.