In March 2025, Dr. Williams was named chief nurse executive of Yale New Haven Health, bringing more than three decades of dedicated service and progressive leadership within the system. She joined Yale New Haven Hospital in 1992 as an operating room nurse and advanced to CNO in 2018, where she led the organization through its third Magnet redesignation. Under her leadership, the hospital navigated the Covid-19 pandemic and earned the 2024 American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet prize for an innovative patient experience survey tool for psychiatric inpatients. As system chief nurse executive, Dr. Williams steered multiple Magnet efforts in 2025. She is also responsible for leading systemwide standardization of nursing best practices, training opportunities, and workforce strategies to meet evolving care demands. Nationally recognized for her influence, Dr. Williams serves on The Joint Commission board of commissioners and the American Nurses Foundation board of trustees, was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2023, and will serve as president of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership in 2026.
