Erin Williams
Erin I. Williams is the Cultural Development Officer for the City of Worcester, MA and the Executive Director of the Worcester Cultural Coalition, the unified voice of the Greater Worcester, MA creative community. The Coalition is a unique public private partnership which shines a spotlight on the creative activity produced in the region and supports creative placemaking through such initiatives as the WOOcard, Worcester Wayfinding signage program and Public Art. With Erin’s leadership, the Worcester Cultural Coalition was presented the Commonwealth of Massachusetts highest award, as the Creative Economy Catalyst. In July, 2012 Richard Florida named Worcester as one of the top 20 creative cities in the U.S in The Rise of the Creative Class. Erin is a firm believer that creativity sparks the economy and builds community.
Ms Williams currently serves on Governor Patrick’s Creative Economy Council, is a founding director of MassCreative, board member of Destination Worcester, National Science Foundation Art of Science Learning Incubator National Advisory Committee and a participant in Americans for the Arts Local Arts Agency Executive Leadership Forum, in conjunction with the National Arts Policy Roundtable; in addition to many local community based organization.
Ms. Williams was previously employed as a Massachusetts Cultural Council where she provided oversight and technical assistance to 90 local cultural councils in Central Massachusetts. She assisted in strategic planning and capacity building efforts for the Communities Department and is a consultant in the area of creative placemaking.
She has received numerous grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, local and regional foundations for non-profit cultural programming, arts education and capital projects.
Erin was the founding director and trustee of the 1794 Meetinghouse performing arts and cultural center in New Salem, Massachusetts and the founding director of the Big Small Theater in Philadelphia. She holds a Smith Scholar degree, graduating magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College. She also studied at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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