STRATEGIC PLANNER, PROJECT MANAGER & P H I L A N T H R O P I C ADVISOR

Mr. Franklin Delano Williams is an Organizational, Workforce and Community and Economic Development Strategist, Project Manager, and Philanthropic Advisor for the Bobrow-Williams Group, LLC in Augusta, GA. He has worked extensively with municipal, county and state governments and agencies; faith and community based initiatives, regional and national non-profit organizations, family foundations, and financial corporations throughout Georgia, the southeast and nationally. As an economic development practitioner, he has played key roles in developing public private partnerships and business ventures spanning youth development, entrepreneurial education, alternative technologies, and rural, cultural and historic preservation initiatives. He has extensive experience in developing community engagement plans for business, community, and governmental agencies.

Bobrow-Williams Group, LLC projects include local, county, regional, state and multi state-level rural development work. Mr. Williams’ recent contracts have spanned executive coaching/consultation, strategic organizational assessment and analysis, project and venture development, industrial development and community capacity building initiatives. Mr. Williams currently works with The City of Sparta Georgia to research, plan and develop six initiatives around their “Small Town! BIG IDEAS Project Initiatives”. These Initiatives are built around the Mayor’s Motto – “The Past, Present and Future Connected”. He recently worked with the $10 million dollar CMS funded Frontier Medicine Better Health Partnership in Montana. In Montana, he also worked with the Inland Northwest Space Alliance, Inc.’s NASA Summer Camp Program and High School Partnership with Reach For Tomorrow, Inc. to introduce Native American youth to careers in science and technology.

During his tenure as Executive Director of the Boggs Rural Life Center, Mr. Williams spearheaded the development of a 10-Year Plan for six counties in The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) which led to its designation as an Enterprise Community (EC), resulting in a $3 million grant. Boggs, the CSRA EC, and local counties/cities leverage an additional $100 million into the six-county target area over the first five years of the designation period. He pioneered a depot exchange property concept while at Boggs where over $4 million in private business, industry and excess/surplus government furniture and equipment was secured for Boggs and 10 CSRA EC facilities and more than 15 other affiliated programs. He also led the Boggs' Board through more than $2.5 million of “green technology-based” facility renovations, equipment and furniture upgrades, and grounds improvements.

Prior to coming to Boggs, Mr. Williams was Director of the Bert and Mary Meyer Foundation in Winter Park, Florida. He was associated with the Foundation as a board member (1986-87), and management consultant (1987 – 1990), prior to becoming Director from 1990 to 1992. Before going to the Foundation he directed the East Coast Farm Worker Support Network and the Management and Program Support Services (MAPSS) of the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice.

Mr. Williams has broad experience in human services and societal change work. He was active in the Civil Rights, Anti War and Student Rights Movements and a leader in the formation of several state and national student led organizations in the 1960's and 70's. His work with the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) led to the creation of the North Carolina Federation of Child Development Centers and he went on to head NBCDI’s National Affiliates Program. His work with Youth Educational Services (YES), Inc. lead to the creation of a more than 5,000 student statewide network of tutors in rural and urban communities across North Carolina..

He currently plays a major role in international, national, and local rural futuring and resource development as an active member of the World Future Society. The Society is an educational and scientific organization for people interested in how social and technological developments are shaping the future headquartered in Bethesda, MD. He is a consultant with Kellogg Action Lab of the Fieldstone Alliance. He is also an advisory board member of the Green Economy Diversity Initiative (GEDI), a leading olive branch organization for the New Green Economy.

Mr. Williams is a board member and the current chairperson of the American Forum, Inc., a national distributor of opinion pieces that make and shape debate around issues and policy. Under his leadership, American Forum, Inc. has grown more than fivefold. In 2006 the organization won a national competition for a $1,000,000 grant from the Women’s Donor Network. He is also a former member of the Small Town Capacity Building Initiative, a collaborative effort of The National Association of Towns and Townships and the Aspen Institute, both in Washington, D.C.

He is a former board member of the Community Information Exchange, Washington, DC; board member and former chair of the Rural Development and Finance Corporation, San Antonio, TX; advisor to national racial and social justice projects of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Commission for Racial Justice of the United Church of Christ; trustee of Franklinton Center at Bricks, Whitakers, NC and board member and founding president of the Southern Rural Development Initiative, Raleigh, NC.

In his home state, Mr. Williams is a former 2008 and 2012 Georgia Delegate to the Democratic National Convention; former trustee of the Sapelo Foundation, St. Simons Island, GA; former board member of Richmond/Burke Job Training Authority, Augusta, GA; former community-based advisor to Fort Valley State University’s College of Agriculture, Fort Valley, GA; and a former rural issues advisor to the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, Atlanta, GA.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Love meeting new people from across the USA and around the World

What I Can Share with Hosts

All Things Democratic Party and the National Conventions

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, England, Germany, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico