Terri has nearly 30 years of experience in the juvenile justice and criminal justice fields in both the private and public sectors. She has held various executive positions in the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC), including the Deputy Secretary of Community and Field Services, overseeing adult parole and community corrections functions in the state, the Administrator of the Kansas Parole Board, and the State’s first Director of Release Planning. From 2012-2017, Williams oversaw the executive branch juvenile justice continuum in Kansas as the Acting Commissioner of the Juvenile Justice Authority and the Deputy Secretary of Juvenile Services in KDOC. During her tenure in that position, Ms. Williams helped lead comprehensive juvenile justice policy and legislative reform in Kansas, working closely with all branches of government and national organizations such as the Council of State Governments and the PEW Charitable Trust Public Safety Performance Project. The system reform resulted in what is regarded as some of the most evidence-based, progressive juvenile justice code and policies in the nation.

Terri earned Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Corrections from Washburn University and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas.

Williams is an associate member of the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators (CJCA), and a past member of the CJCA executive board, having served as Secretary and Midwest chairperson. She is a past member of the Kansas Juvenile Justice Workgroup, the Kansas Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee, Board of Governors for the American Correctional Association, co-chair of the Waterbury, Connecticut Re-Entry Council, and the Kansas Human Trafficking Advisory Board. She currently serves on the national executive board of Performance-based Standards (PbS) as Treasurer. In 2018 she was selected to serve as a member of the Kansas State Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (KAG). She was appointed Chairperson of the KAG in 2019 by Governor Laura Kelly.

Terri Williams is the Chief Development Officer for Community Solutions, Incorporated (CSI), a private-non-profit agency serving juvenile justice, criminal justice, and child welfare populations.