Dr. Wendi Williams

President
American Psychological Association

Dr. Wendi Williams is a psychologist, scholar, and leadership strategist whose work lives at the intersection of equity, institutional transformation, and sustainable leadership. Bridging psychology, education, and leadership with clarity, compassion, and transformative insight, she has spent more than two decades in higher education and the nonprofit sector accompanying leaders through the places other frameworks will not go—the moments of transition, displacement, and reckoning that demand not just strategy, but a different way of being in leadership altogether. 

Her scholarship illuminates the inner lives and everyday brilliance of Black women, translating research into culturally responsive strategies that drive personal and organizational change. This work is grounded in the Black Women's Liberatory Leadership (BWLL) Praxis framework she coined—a body of thought that has become a universal blueprint for leaders committed to impact, justice, and the long arc of change. From keynote stages to intimate coaching circles, she brings that research to life through storytelling, strategic thinking, and transformative leadership development for leaders and teams committed to more effective, inclusive, and transformative leadership. 

Dr. Wendi is the founder of The Well, a leadership practice grounded in the conviction that leaders cannot sustain the work of transformation if they themselves are running dry. Drawing on the intellectual and practical wisdom of BWLL Praxis, The Well creates spaces for reflection, strategy, and renewal—guiding leaders to move through uncertainty with resilience and intention. Its community home, The Well with Dr. Wendi, is where she shares her most personal and timely reflections: essays, insights, and practices on leading through liminality, building liberatory strategies, and cultivating clarity in the midst of change. 

She is the author of Black Women at Work: On Refusal and Recovery and The Majestic Place: The Freedom Possible in Black Women's Leadership—both offering powerful frameworks for navigating complexity with clarity and courage. 

In 2026, Dr. Williams became President of the American Psychological Association, the largest psychology professional organization in the world, where she is advancing her vision of a radically well psychology for a radically complex world.