Sonja Williams, CDE

                                                                                    (Certified Diversity Executive)

Diversity Philosophy “Everyone brings something to the table”©

Sonja Williams is committed to creating better work, home and life environments through education.  She wishes to eliminate the stereotypes and misconceptions held about the term diversity.   Sonja served as the Director of Workforce Strategies and Compliance at BlueLinx Corporation, a position that included duties as the chief diversity officer for the company.  A significant part of her duties regarding diversity was developing, communicating and implementing the organization’s direction for both management and non-management employees.  A significant aspect of the strategy was to ensure that all employees were on the same page when it came to understanding how diversity would aid the corporation in its plans for growth and sustainability within the building products industry.  This meant a plan that included both community involvement and employee enrichment through understanding the role that each played in being a champion for diversity.  Different divisions of Georgia-Pacific Corporation have also been past clients for education as well as Atlanta Women in Business, the Georgia Center for International Visitors (GCIV), Czarnowski Exhibits, Interfaith Broadcasting (IFB), Emcon Services, Inc., the Atlanta Braves and Talent Quest.

Although drawn to the human resources area of diversity education in the latter part of her career in corporate America, Sonja’s background includes Accounting Operations (Controller), Management and Process Improvement.  Having spent the majority of her corporate career in management roles, she became aware of the importance of providing an environment that fosters collaboration and respect through open communication as the cornerstone of achieving goals and objectives.  Sonja is a certified instructor of Eli’s Civil Treatment Training Series, which is a system of courses designed to demonstrate appropriate behavior for the workplace for both management and non-management employees.  In addition to diversity education, Sonja is a staunch proponent of mentoring programs to create a natural environment that helps to eradicate communication and other issues that exist in the workplace and significantly affect productivity and morale. 

Sonja has an undergraduate degree in Accounting from Mercer University in Atlanta and an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix – Atlanta Campus.  She is a member of several organizations, among which are the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GHCC), Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM), Atlanta Women in Business, Global Diversity and Inclusion Foundation, and the  Institute of Management Accountants.