Desmond Williams

Desmond Williams is a career teacher, principal, author and thought leader. He is driven to help all children live their dreams. Desmond had two dream growing up: He wanted to design Transformers and be a sitcom writer. After having many teachers tell him those dreams were silly, he decided he wanted to teach because he knew children deserved better. He has spent his entire professional career working with youth serving as a special educator, classroom teacher, assistant principal and principal. His educational philosophy is simply that education should be used for the process of building and maintaining a nation.

 

He received his Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Howard University in Washington, DC.  He later received his Master’s degree in Education and Human Development from George Washington University. He started his teaching career in DCPS as a special educator.  He subsequently moved through the ranks and became a special education coordinator because of his business acumen and understanding of children with special needs. Soon afterwards Mr. Williams, worked in the Office of Special Education for DC Public Schools.

 

After leaving DCPS’s Office of Special Education, he ventured into the world of school-based administration. His expertise includes, student engagement, restorative justice practices, relationship building with students, and family engagement. Desmond has spoken at multiple conferences across the country offering his expertise and insight in engaging inner-city students.  He has worked with several independent schools and school districts. His focus is on educating boys of color. “They are the most marginalized and are in need of the most help. “Teachers that serve them, tend to be the teachers that are in need of the most support.” His other passions include teacher development, leadership development, special education and engaging boys of color in learning. In 2015, he launched the #SOBTC Twitter chat that united teachers, educators, parents and practitioners from across the country together to discuss issues related to educating boys of color. #SOBTC, Send Our Boys To College started because he wanted those invested in the growth of Black boys to have a platform to discuss challenges and celebrate successes.

Desmond served six years at an all-boys school in Washington DC, teaching four years and serving as principal for two more years. His first year as an administrator reading scores soared to 64% proficient. In his second year, and upon his departure, The Bishop Walker School boasted reading scores of 83% of children reading on grade level. After leaving BWS, Desmond founded and launched Nylinka School Solutions. One of Desmond’s big goals was to help other educators increase the level of engagement and investment of boys of color.  Mr. Williams does this by leveraging his experience and expertise to aid schools and school districts. The goal of Nylinka School Solutions is to help children achieve their dreams one solution at a time. In all, Desmond has spent nine years as a teacher and seven as an administrator. However, his greatest satisfaction is seeing kids maintain their enthusiasm for leaving their mark on the world.