Contact Emily

Emily is available as a speaker and trainer through Emily Presents. Book her today!

Emily C. Williams
Public Speaker
Corporate Trainer
Direct: 310.591.4377
Emily Presents

About Emily

Emily C. Williams established and oversees the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) Workforce Excellence Unit (WEU).  Housed within the department’s Professional Standards Division, the WEU is a proactive resource that formally assesses troubled work environments within the department’s 106 fire stations and specialized locations, then designs and delivers customized programs to address the challenges identified by these assessments. Emily began working with LAFD in 2005, when she was hand-picked by the Mayor to create and manage the department’s Human Relations Training Section, dedicated to the design, delivery and evaluation of non-tactical training, including such topics as leadership, diversity, ethics, communication, and conflict management.  Prior to these positions, Emily served as a Policy Advisor with the Human Relations Commission from 1999 - 2005, coordinating public safety and human relations programs for neighborhoods, schools, public housing residents, and formerly incarcerated persons.

Emily is also available as a speaker and trainer through her company, Emily Presents.  With more than fifteen years of training and public speaking experience, she has emceed and keynoted conferences for California State Senator Alan Lowenthal, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Pacific Institute, UCLA, and various chambers of commerce. She has provided training for such varied organizations as the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the Junior League, London Metro Police/Scotland Yard, Right Management, and The Princeton Review. Her most in-demand topics are generational diversity, microfinance, public speaking, and social media.

In 2002, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) named her Instructor of the Year. She was the 2003 recipient of the Los Angeles County Inter-Agency Gang Task Force award for her role in collaborative peacekeeping efforts to reduce gang violence and hate crimes. In 2005, she was recognized as the UCLA Department of Public Policy’s Alumnus of the Year.  She is also the 2008 recipient of YWCA of the Harbor Area’s Racial Justice Award.

Emily is a founding board member of A Better Los Angeles (ABLA), USC football coach Pete Carroll’s non-profit organization dedicated to uplifting and empowering low-income communities.  She is also an inaugural member of the UCLA Public Policy Alumni Council and has served on the board of the American Association of University Women (AAUW)-Manhattan Beach branch since 2002.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Master of Public Policy (MPP) degrees from UCLA and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Education Master Class for Professional Trainers, Educators, and Consultants. She also possesses an Advanced Certificate in Human Resource Management from California State University - Dominguez Hills (CSUDH).

Emily resides in the city of Los Angeles. She is an active participant in the city’s nightlife offerings and an avid observer of its shifting demographics and political landscape. She enjoys beach volleyball, in-line skating, running, snowboarding, reading, traveling, and engaging in the infinite applications of web 2.0.