Commissioner Rebecca Williams

Commissioner
Rebecca Williams

Commissioner Rebecca L. Williams, the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve as a Commissioner in Union County history,  was elected to her first full three-year term in November 2019 and was re-elected in 2022. Also in 2022, she served her first term as Chair of the Board, thus becoming the first LGBTQ+ individual to serve in that role in Union County history.

This year, Commissioner Williams serves as Chair of the Board’s Fiscal Committee, and as a member of the Parks and Programming and Public Works and Facilities Committees, respectively. In addition, she serves as liaison to the following advisory boards: Union County LGBTQ Ad Hoc Committee, Cornerstone Board of Managers, Motion Picture & TV Advisory Board, Union County Planning Board, Green Brook Flood Control Commission, and Meadowlink/EZ Ride. 

Commissioner Williams has been in the forefront of LGBTQ advocacy, working with the Union County Office of LGBTQ Affairs to address housing, senior services, education, health, public safety, community engagement, and other areas of concern. A frequent speaker on women’s and LGBTQ+ empowerment, Commissioner Williams has served on panels at The League of Municipalities, The Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers’s Eagleton Institute, The National Council of Negro Women, Social Justice Matters, Inc., and Garden State Equality, among many other organizations.

Commissioner Williams prides herself on her openness and accessibility to all constituents. Known for an emphasis on constituent outreach, fiscal issues, support for arts and culture initiatives, and quality of life matters, Commissioner Williams advocates for county-local shared services that save tax dollars while improving efficiency. She remains a grassroots public servant, reaching out and following up with constituents to ensure their concerns are resolved.

Commissioner Williams is an Associate Professor of English in the Humanities and Bilingual Studies Division at Essex County College in Newark, where she teaches American and African American Literature, Women’s Literature, Survey of the Novel, African American Cinema, and English Composition.