Tavares Williams – Vice Chairman

MA Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago 2011
BA Communications; Minor: Sociology, Augustana College 2007
7 Years Served in the Public Administration Industry

Tavares DeAndre Terry Williams, born February 1985, is a public administration and crisis management professional. Williams served as Marketing Specialist for Rock Island Metro (2006-2008) and is currently the External Relations Specialist for Suburban Bus Division of the RTA/Pace (circa 2008).

Tavares Williams (second youngest of 5) was born in St. Louis, MO, but was primarily raised in Blue Island/Robbins, IL. Williams attended Kolmar Elementary School (Midlothian) and Alan B. Shepard High School (Palos Hts.). Williams was an all-academic champion athlete in football (OT) and wrestling (HWT). In 2003, Williams was recruited by the Jim Barnes coaching staff to play football at Augustana College. Williams fulfilled the role as defensive nose tackle for the team for 2 years. Williams also participated in Augie wrestling and track.

During his term at Augustana, Williams was known as a leader in cultural diversity and an activist for cultural equality. He was active in social clubs, participating in the Black Student Union (Vice President -2005, President 2007) and pledging with the Majestic Gents (Line 25 - “Ginyus”, Co-President 2007). During his pledging process, Williams learned that an older cousin (Donnie Randle-El) had also attended Augustana and was a member of the Reincarnate-8 line (Line 20) of the revitalized Majestic Gents. Realizing the social disadvantage on campus for students of color, Williams turned his focus on financial and academic counseling for underclassmen to retain multi-cultural presence on campus. With the help of Constance Ghinazzi, Dean Evelyn Campbell and fellow Gent, Eric Rowell, a blueprint for leadership counseling was created in 2007.

Post-graduation, Williams remained in the Quad Cities for professional development and gave guidance for the relatively young Majestic-Gent actives. In the meanwhile, Williams along with the help of, then, R.I. Metro intern, Raphael Boyd (Augustana 2008), devised a bus route plan that gave the Augustana students safe access to and from the nightlife at The District in downtown Rock Island. The route plan was a major success for the city and the college, significantly reducing the rate of alcohol-related incidents involving automobiles. The route continues to serve the college and has since expanded to a multi-college operation that benefits Illinois and Iowa nightlife-areas of the Mississippi River.

In 2009, Williams enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago) and earned his Masters of Public Administration in Public Safety and Crisis Management in 2011. Tavares Williams plans to pursue a second masters in IT management and eventually develop a public crisis consulting firm.