Keith Williams Joins NACDD as Senior Director of Operations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Paige Rohe, prohe@chronicdisease.org, 470-809-0589

ATLANTA (Jan. 2, 2018) National Association of Chronic Disease Directors CEO John W. Robitscher, MPH, announced today that Keith Williams has joined NACDD as senior director of Operations (SDO) at NACDD’s headquarters in Atlanta.

“I’m delighted to welcome Keith Williams, our new senior director of Operations, to the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors,” Robitscher said. “I am excited about the expertise he brings to NACDD, having worked both within a state health department and for CDC. I know that he will help our organization bring a new level of value and support to our Members, partners, and funders.”

The SDO’s primary roles and responsibilities include: managing all hands-on operational aspects of the Association; assisting the CEO in the successful growth of the Association and providing the leadership, management, and vision necessary to ensure the Association has the proper operational practices and controls, administrative processes, reporting procedures, and the human capital in place to grow the organization and to ensure NACDD’s financial strength and operating efficiency.

Additionally, the SDO will provide supervisory oversight to the Finance, Communications and Member Services, and the Meeting and Event Planning departments. The SDO will operate in conjunction with the leadership team to ensure all practices and procedures align with the Association’s strategic plan and Mission, supporting all programmatic requirements. 

Keith Williams has nearly three decades of experience helping to lead organizations of various sizes and has a distinguished record both at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and working for and in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Health. He began his career as a public health advisor with the CDC at the STD/HIV training center in Lauderhill, Fla. In 1994, Keith left the CDC to take a position as a district public health director with the Tennessee Department of Health, where he managed five rural county public health departments. In this role, he helped with the transition of county health departments from Medicaid fee-for-service to a managed care model. He also worked for the Tennessee state health commissioner as the legislative liaison monitoring and responding to legislation affecting public health.

In 2000, Keith returned to CDC with the STD Program in Tennessee, where he served as the state Field Services director. During this time, Tennessee was one of two states that successfully passed a rule amendment allowing patient-delivered therapy for the treatment of chlamydia. In 2004, he accepted an assignment in Atlanta with the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention as a project officer. He also served as a project officer with the Division of State and Local Readiness in what is now the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.

From 2005 to 2008, he worked on pandemic influenza preparedness activities and helped stand up the first phase of the Influenza Coordination Unit, which led the Agency-wide planning for response and resource distribution. He later was asked to assist with project management of the overall American Recovery and Reinvestment Act immunization initiative and subsequently, with broader program integration issues. From 2012-2013, he assisted with a major reorganization effort that led to the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services. He also assisted the CDC’s chief operating officer with the planning, coordination, and execution of the Emergency Ebola appropriation.

Keith has participated in on-the-ground emergency response efforts with Hurricane Rita in Texas, Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana, and the April 2011 tornadoes in Alabama. He has led teams and organizations of varying sizes and enjoys looking for opportunities to engage staff to create effective, efficient, customer-centered, and solutions-oriented work units that are appreciated for their contributions.

Keith is the proud father of two teenage daughters, Ellen and Katy. In his free time, Keith enjoys hiking and being in the great outdoors.

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The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
Promoting Health. Preventing Disease.

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and its more than 6,500 members seek to strengthen state-based leadership and expertise for chronic disease prevention and control in states and nationally. Established in 1988, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the NACDD is the only membership association of its kind to serve and represent every chronic disease division in all states and U.S. territories. For more information, visit chronicdisease.org.