Kayla Williams

Kayla Williams (she/her) is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation; her focus areas include optimizing policies and programs to support veterans and military personnel. She was most recently Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she provided executive level oversight and direction to OPIA's team of nearly 80 employees who communicate VA's key messages to multiple audiences through diverse direct and indirect channels. She was previously a senior fellow and director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at Center for a New American Security and prior to that served as director of the Center for Women Veterans at VA. Williams previously spent eight years at RAND researching servicemember and veteran health needs and benefits, international security, and intelligence policy. She was enlisted for five years and authored the memoirs Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army and Plenty of Time When We Get Home: Love and Recovery in the Aftermath of War. She served on the Department of Labor Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach, Army Education Advisory Committee, and VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans; her recognitions include 2013 White House Woman Veteran Champion of Change and 2015 Lincoln Award recipient. Williams has an M.A. in international affairs from American University and a B.A. in English literature from Bowling Green State University.