Cali Williams has served as an advisor on place-based projects to America Achieves since 2021. She is also the founder of Kyanite Partners, an urban planning and economic development strategy consulting firm in NYC. Underpinning her nearly two decades of practice in the non-profit, public and private sectors is a commitment to collaboration, transparency and the development of creative and meaningful processes to support leaders and communities to thrive. Her work encompasses multiple scales, from downtown recovery plans to transit-oriented development master plans to major infrastructure and resiliency projects across the United States and Australia.

She gained expertise in economic development, neighborhood planning, and real estate development through her eleven years in leadership positions at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), where she was a Senior Vice President. She received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.