LIZZIE WILLIAMS

Lizzie Williams is the Marketing Coordinator for the Center for Community Leadership, a program of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and a proud Grand Rapids native. She ventured to the distant town of East Lansing for college where she studied Communication and Design at Michigan State University. In addition to sitting on the WGVU Engage Committee where she Co-chairs the Art Committee with John Helmrich, Lizzie volunteers her time with the East Lansing Art Festival and is a literacy tutor for the Heart of West Michigan United Way’s Schools of Hope program.
 
Lizzie was introduced to the WGVU Engage Committee in 2010 and immediately knew it was a place that she could make an impact. After spending the past few years working and living all around Mid/West Michigan (East Lansing, Grand Haven and Grand Rapids) she was thrilled about volunteering her time to an organization that focused on the benefits of community engagement on a regional level. WGVU allows her the opportunity to both share relevant information about what’s going on in the Grand Rapids community from her experience with the Center for Community Leadership but also allows her to learn about many other exciting opportunities and initiatives in other surrounding communities.
 
Lizzie’s positive feelings towards the WGVU Engage Committee increased tenfold when she received a call in November asking if she would be interested in being the Grand Marshall of the Art Van Santa Claus Parade. Emails quickly spread to co-workers and family members letting them know they should look for her in the parade, but that they might not recognize her, because she would be dressed like a big red dog. On November 19, 2011, Lizzie was able to cross ‘be Clifford the Big Red Dog in a parade’ off her life’s “to do” list. (Of course, she had to add it to the list first… but that’s irrelevant.) WGVU has become not only a source of community knowledge for Lizzie, but a whole lot of fun.