Jay Williams no longer resides in the Mahoning Valley full time, but the former Youngstown mayor’s impact is lasting. Likewise, the community and the work he was a part of here have stayed with him as he took a position within the Obama administration and, later, became president and CEO of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in Connecticut. 

The Wean Foundation spoke with Williams as part of its Vanguard of the Valley series. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What was your first connection to the Wean Foundation? 

A: Back in the early 2000s, when I was director of the community development agency of the city of Youngstown, we oversaw block grant funding from [United States Department of Housing and Urban Development]. The agency also oversaw some of the city’s housing rehabilitation. And I first remember interacting with the Wean Foundation and the block grant funding being allocated to the Foundation. Around that time, the Foundation made a catalyzing shift in its decision to invest in Youngstown and Warren in a very grassroots way. We allocated some of the block grant funding to partner with the Foundation around neighborhood development – physical transformation of the neighborhood—and, more importantly, around the formation of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. (YNDC). The city made a significant investment with the Foundation to catalyze YNDC. YNDC being a separate independent nonprofit created a whole new set of tools and approaches and innovative thinking.

Q: When you were mayor, how did you work with the Wean Foundation? 

A: [The relationship]only deepened when I became mayor. The Wean Foundation is one of the most important influential organizations to really catalyze some of the ongoing transformation we see in the Valley. I saw the Wean Foundation as a partner. I tried to do everything I could to support, to partner with and advocate for the work that the Wean Foundation was doing. It was later on, when I got into philanthropy, that I began to appreciate that critical relationship—not just the philanthropic capacity, but the example. Their willingness to take risks and invest in communities that had been underinvested in and underserved. The physical transformation, like the Wean amphitheater. That was planned during the time I was mayor. As I got into philanthropy, it really helped me appreciate running a community foundation. When I came to Hartford, I was eager to work with the then-mayor of Hartford. To not only have had the perspective of mayor but of leveraging the power of that type of partnership.

Q: How have you stayed connected to the Wean Foundation’s work over the years?

A: I enjoy learning and sharing and seeing how they continue to be a force in the Mahoning Valley. Jennifer Roller is someone whom I admire. I am always from afar watching what she’s doing with her leadership. Anytime I have conversations with people from the Mahoning Valley, I direct them to the Wean Foundation. 

Q: How did you get to Hartford? What brought you there?

A: After six years with the Obama administration, all good things come to an end. The President’s term was over, and we were contemplating what next. I wanted to be involved in community and economic development. The Hartford Foundation was going through a search firm to recruit its next CEO. I was exploring different opportunities across the country. The timing just worked. Hartford and surrounding region reminds me a lot of Youngstown and its surrounding region. 

The board of directors was looking for the next leader to come and be a change agent. They wanted the organization to lean into the community a bit more and be less risk adverse. It was a combination of timing and opportunity. 

Q: What did you learn from the Wean Foundation? Anything that has influenced you in your current role in philanthropy?

A: It’s not a new lesson: This notion of how important it is for organizations to collaborate. Nonprofit organizations like the Wean Foundation and others, municipal governments, the private sector, the corporations. Foundations can be a convening entity. That’s one of our strengths, in addition to thought leadership and innovation. The problems and the challenges seem intractable. They don’t necessarily have to be. By having a forum where you can bring together those thought leaders and bring together those different tools and resources, you can identify a set of priorities and monitor those over time.

Q: When you think about the role of foundations, how can they help build equitable communities? Beyond resources, what value do they bring to the community?

A: Capacity builder, a catalyst—coming in and sparking change. Organizations, communities, we can all get stuck, get stuck in a rut. A foundation can really take risks and should. And I think they do take risks. Inform risk. They can be an honest broker around some of the very difficult conversations that need to be had. There is no political agenda. They have resources … they are not trying to get resources. They can hear multiple sides of a story. Being that beacon that catalyzes change and also calls out inequities and injustices, that is necessary. 

Having more equitable communities brings more economic prosperity to all. It grows the pot. I also remind people that if there are portions of the community that have disproportionately benefited, if you benefited as a result of a system that was stacked against others, that means things will need to change. We aren’t there yet as a society. It’s necessary to have that as front and center as part of the conversation. The Wean Foundation has embraced that. It has made the Mahoning Valley a stronger community. 

Q: Do you think the Mahoning Valley is in your future? Will you come back?

A: Our son is in ninth grade. I’m certain we’ll be [in Connecticut] at least until he goes away to college. At some point, we will likely have a presence in Northeast Ohio. No matter where it is, we’ll always have a connection and presence in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.