The Executive Director of the Southwest PA AHEC, Lynne Williams, MD, PhD, has been named the 2024 DEI Champion by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Association of Pediatrics Board of Directors and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee.
Dr. Williams has been dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion since the beginning of her clinical career, working with underserved patients first at East Liberty Family Health Center and now Hilltop Community Health Center.
From her personal journey of fostering and adopting children, Dr. Williams recognized the need for all families in western PA to have access to safe, accessible, and reliable childcare during emergency and urgent life situations. In response to this need, Dr. Williams co-founded Jeremiah’s Place, the region’s only 24/7/365 crisis relief nursery offering no-cost, judgment-free emergency childcare for young children.
In her role with SW PA AHEC, Dr. Williams has promoted diversity by supporting the training of a diverse group of candidates in health-related fields. She has taught medical and other health professional students through poverty simulations and has been a lecturer on adverse childhood experiences. She also has facilitated a Racism in Medicine course for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Williams is an internal medicine-pediatrics physician. She holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology and an undergraduate degree in elementary and early childhood education.
Pennsylvania AHEC salutes Dr. Williams for receiving this prestigious and well-deserved award!