Betsy Williams is the founder and Executive Director of Emerging Public Leaders. She is also the current PYPP International Advisory Board Chair, and on the PYPP Liberia Board of Directors. Ms. Williams launched PYPP with Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf upon seeing the country's urgent need for a stronger civil service following two civil wars, and recognizing the potential of youth to drive that progress. In 2017, Ms. Williams was conferred Liberia's highest civilian honors and awarded Dame Officer, Most Venerable Order of the Pioneer. She is also a Mulago foundation fellow.

Ms. Williams' work has focused on the intersection of social development, foreign policy, and global health, having launched and supported innovative programs at USAID, JSI, Asia Society and Physicians for Human Rights.  She graduated cum laude from Princeton University and received her MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University where she currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Overseers.  

Betsy's career to date has focused on the intersection of social development, foreign policy, and global health. In 2003, Betsy launched the AIDS in Asia Initiative for the Asia Society where she led public education and advocacy efforts under the leadership of the late Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke. While in Liberia before the PYPP, Betsy managed and expanded the Scott Fellows Program, served as an advisor to the Ministry of Health, and established the Liberia office for public health consulting firm John Snow, Inc. From 2009-2013, Betsy worked in the Bureau for Global Health at USAID, focused on accelerating efforts to end preventable child and maternal deaths through new strategic partnerships. Beyond these positions, Betsy has worked in Geneva for World Health Organization, in Boston with Physicians for Human Rights, and in South Africa as a volunteer for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

She graduated cum laude from Princeton University and received her MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. In addition to serving on the Mailman School Board and as a Trustee for Seed Global Health, Betsy is a fellow of Truman National Security Project and member of NationSwell.

Since early 2015, the Global Development Incubator (GDI) has been providing strategic, operational, and financial support and oversight to the PYPP as it transitions from a program managed by the US-based non-profit John Snow, International to an independent Liberian non-profit in a public-private partnership with the Government of Liberia.

GDI was created to advance and scale transformative perspectives in social impact. It takes a growth engineering approach to the creation and expansion of select ideas, organizations, and initiatives that address urgent global problems. GDI provides structured pathways over 2-3 years to support the achievement of critical step-changes necessary for ideas and organizations to move to the next level. GDI supports the implementation of a strategic plan and then transition to a clear and responsible operational handoff, ensuring that the right engines for growth are built for continued transformative social impact.