Kirsten Williams

Kirsten B. Williams, Esq. serves as Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President at DC Water. In this role, she leads a team of 175 employees and oversees all administrative departments at DC Water, including Communications and Marketing, Customer Care, Emergency Management, Facilities, Fleet, Safety, and Security.Ms. Williams joined DC Water in 2021 as Executive Vice President and Chief Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Officer. In this role, she served as Executive Sponsor for the nationally recognized Lead Free DC initiative, leading the identification of over 41,000 lead lines and the successful replacement of more than 10,500. Her leadership, built on partnerships with over 500 community organizations, also drove a significant rise in the authority's J.D. Power rankings, securing an eighth-place national rank in 2023 for utility communications.Prior to joining DC Water, Ms. Williams served as Deputy Executive Director of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia. In this role, she led the agency’s operational and communications response during the COVID-19 pandemic and directed strategic planning for key commission programs.A third-generation utility professional, Ms. Williams held leadership positions at Pepco, Duke Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Apartment and Office Building Association (AOBA). Her work has earned national recognition, including acknowledgment from the EPA for her environmental justice leadership and for creating a national benchmark in crisis communications that is now studied by peer utilities.Ms. Williams holds two bachelor's degrees, in Public Relations and Public Communications, and a Master of Public Administration from Appalachian State University. She also earned a Juris Doctorate with a focus on environmental policy from the Howard University School of Law.