Liz Marcell Williams, Ed.D
Principal
Health Management Associates
New Orleans, LA
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A visionary executive, Liz Marcell Williams has over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of healthcare and education to achieve measurable results for underserved youth. She is an expert in special education policy and practice, pediatric behavioral healthcare, trauma-informed care and restorative practices.
Liz has demonstrated success in nonprofit development, grant writing, partnership development, and strategic planning. Leveraging these skills, her expertise, and her background in child development, she works to improve children and families’ continuum of care and access to services through school-based healthcare without increasing demand on the education system.
Before joining Health Management Associates, Liz was the founding executive director of the New Orleans Therapeutic Day Program (NOTDP), overseeing its design, launch and day-to-day operations. She also spearheaded the NOTDP’s transition from a state-led program to a nonprofit: the Center for Resilience.
Partnering with the Tulane University School of Medicine, the Center for Resilience provided the only therapeutic day hospital program in Louisiana for children with significant behavioral health and autism spectrum related needs. As founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Liz tripled the program’s capacity, raised over $5 million in grant funding, and negotiated a bundled daily rate with five managed care organizations (MCOs) in lieu of a fee-for-service model.
Liz is a skilled relationship builder, forging cross-sector collaborations and partnerships across education systems, local and state governments, healthcare providers, community organizations and other private entities. With the Center for Resilience, Liz connected a school district, a university medical school, a department of health, and a children’s hospital to deliver high quality, interdisciplinary care so students could build the necessary skills to transition back to the traditional school setting.
As the founding director of special education and the founding executive director of intervention services with ReNEW Schools Charter Management Organization, Liz worked alongside the first network of charter schools in post-Katrina New Orleans engaged in full-scale turnaround efforts. She built out a multi-tiered system of support, including special education, Section 504, homebound, and English Language Learner services. Cross-collaborating with governmental and community organizations, she focused on developing a true continuum of services and placements for students in need of specialized academic, behavioral, and social-emotional instruction and intervention.
Liz earned her doctorate in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is fluent in Italian and has a bachelor’s degree in Italian language and literature from Smith College. She currently serves on the board of two independent schools: a school for children with disabilities in Baton Rouge and the Waldorf School of New Orleans.
In her free time, Liz enjoys traveling, trying new recipes and spending time outdoors. She is an avid equestrian, riding horses for over 40 years and having placed first in her division at the 1997 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship.