Nathaniel "Nate" Williams is the Founder and President of Choices for Freedom, Inc.  

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Arrested in the 1980s, he is one of the first juveniles in the state of California to be sentenced as an adult- at age seventeen- when he was a troubled youth.  Nate underwent radical changes, which involved refocusing his priorities to help others. During his incarceration, Nate was elected by the entire inmate population to chair the Men’s Advisory Council, where his responsibilities included serving as the principal representative of the prison population to the administrative and custody staff of Deuel Vocational Prison in Tracy, California.

 

Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” heard about Nate’s story while he was inside and helped bring him home. Released in November 2012, Nate began helping others while furthering his own education.  While attending San Francisco State University for his Bachelor’s degree, the California Institute of Integral Studies asked him to invite Michelle Alexander to help with a fundraising drive for scholarships for former inmates. Nate himself was subsequently offered a scholarship, and in December 2014, graduated from CIIS with his Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. 

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Nate's strong leadership skills are enhanced by capacities for public speaking, group facilitation, and program development.  His life experience and approach gives him an easy rapport with people whom others find hard to reach. He has been a featured guest speaker, addressing issues related to youth development, restorative justice and community reentry for a variety of professional and youth audiences at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, San Francisco City College, and Chaffey College.   

 

Since 2013, Nate has provided case management and mentoring to help gang affiliated youth stay out of jails and prisons. He was recruited to provide direct assistance to the Cease Fire Violence Reduction Strategy in Oakland, run by the Oakland Police Department. As a case manager at Westside Community Services (a mental health organization) in San Francisco, his primary focus was on mentorship, reentry and community development. Nate also operated his own mentoring program at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall and volunteered weekly with the “Man Up” leadership development Program at Youth Uprising in East Oakland. 

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Nate represents the state-wide Anti-Recidivism Coalition, and convenes the Alameda County chapter to advocate for improved policies for juveniles and adults; coalition members also work directly to mentor adults who are exiting prisons and jails to connect them with housing and employment services. 

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Nate has met with congressional offices to share his story, to educate policymakers on the effects of sentencing juveniles as adults, and to recommend services youth must receive in order to avoid the revolving door of recidivism.  He also had the honor of visiting the White House, where he shared his views on policy reform and strategies that can lead to lower rates of recidivism.

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