Jamillah Bowman Williams is a visiting BiGS fellow from Georgetown Law, who joined the HBS community this fall to work on cutting-edge research related to race, diversity, inclusion and inequality. Her innovative research focuses on contemporary bias (implicit, explicit, and structural), the effectiveness of antidiscrimination law, and the capacity of law to reduce inequality and promote social change. With a JD/PhD in Sociology from Stanford, she uses social psychological theory and empirical analysis to examine the impact of legal interventions, social movements, and organizational change strategies on outcomes for underrepresented groups. For example, she has found that popular framing used to increase buy-in to equal opportunity initiatives, such as the “business case for diversity” can backfire by increasing bias and impeding workplace equity. Her research has been published in a range of academic journals, featured by numerous media outlets, and she frequently consults leaders in business, government, and higher education regarding their workplace practices. Williams serves as Founding Faculty Director of the Georgetown Workers’ Rights Institute, where she supports community-centered research and advocacy focused on racial and economic justice for marginalized workers. Prior to Georgetown Law, Dr. Williams worked as an Associate in the Employment Law practice of Paul Hastings, LLP in Chicago, IL where she specialized in conducting privileged diagnostics of employment processes and advising employers on diversity/inclusion programs. Williams was also a National Science Foundation Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the American Bar Foundation in Chicago, IL.
