Jacqueline S.L. Williams
Founding Partner, Government Relations
State & Broadway, Inc.
Jacqueline S.L. Williams has built a well-respected reputation within New York State and New York City governments. She is a founding partner at State & Broadway, Inc., a lobbying firm devoted to creating real opportunity and value for its clients before municipal and state governments. As one of Albany’s most effective and creative lobbyists with a strong track of success, she is responsible for developing client strategy and choreographing its execution. Jacqueline knows the importance of bridging all aspects of government, understanding government cycles, and offering actionable insights to achieve client success.
Her lobbying career began with the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY). In this capacity as Associate Director for Legislative Policy and Communications in the Division of Governmental Affairs at MSSNY, she designed and successfully implemented the Statewide Task Force to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities. The Task Force continues to this day to focus its effort on reducing and eliminating barriers that adversely affect the health care delivery to many diverse populations in New York State. In 2005, she was recruited by the prestigious law/government affairs firm, Meyer, Suozzi, English and Klein, P.C., to become their first non-attorney lobbyist. She worked alongside Basil A. Paterson, a longtime famed political leader in New York and, the father of the 55th Governor of New York, David Paterson.
Prior to lobbying, Jacqueline served as key staff to several of the highest ranking elected members in the New York State Legislature. She provided deep, substantive subject expertise on budgetary, regulatory and legislative matters. Her proactive, no-nonsense reputation quickly spread within the Legislature which lead to her to take the helm in the program development and coordination of conferences for the New York State Assembly and Senate Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force (Somos El Futuro), and the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, Inc. During her tenure she conceptualized and successfully launched several institutional events along with discussion platforms to include the Annual Labor Luncheon, the MWBE International Trade Seminar, Public/Private Partnership (P3) Workshop, and the Saturday Evening of Jazz.
In 2010, she achieved one of her biggest lobbying victories, the overhaul of New York’s procurement laws. Jacqueline rolled up her sleeves to work alongside a broad coalition of legislative and business leaders in achieving economic parity for minorities and women in the Empire State. She assumed the role of Director to the Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MWBE) Coalition, a nonpartisan statewide organization, and was given unparalleled trust and proxy as the next generation of fighters dedicated to opening the doors to access the multi-million dollars in contracting business opportunities for minorities and women business owners. She executed several successful statewide MWBE-focused advocacy days in the State Capitol that brought hundreds of business owner participants from the borders of Buffalo to the shores of Long Island to advocate the most progressive and transformative economic reforms not seen in New York in decades. In 2011 Governor Andrew Cuomo, recognized her tenacity and in his Executive Order #8: Removing Barriers to Minority and Women Business Enterprises' Participation in State Contracting, appointed her to serve on the state’s Minority - and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Team.
Her most recent accomplishment was writing the winning bid on behalf of the New York membership of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Inc. (NBCSL) to host 42nd Annual Conference. In 2018, Jacqueline served as the New York State Local Coordinator for NBCSL; her focus and responsibility lead the State's effort to coordinate national, state and local assets to successfully execute several city-wide events. The Annual Legislative Conference provides a critical framework for African-American policy issues undertaken by state representatives. The New York conference was one of the most highly anticipated conferences for NBCSL and attracted hundreds of African-American legislators, along with advocates, policy experts, corporate executives and community leaders from around the country.
Jacqueline has received several awards and honors throughout her career to include:
Jacqueline is a retired United States Army Reserve Airborne Officer. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Government and Public Administration with a concentration in Urban Development from the City University of New York – John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is a member of Metropolitan NTM Baptist Church in Albany, New York and the Upstate New York Social Action Coordinator for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.