Tony Williams, the former mayor of Washington, DC (1999–2007), is the chief executive officer of the Federal City Council, an organization focusing the creative and administrative talents of Washington’s business and professional leaders on major problems and opportunities facing the District. He is also a senior advisor to King and Spaulding, LLP.

Before the Federal City Council, Williams led the global government practice at the Corporate Executive Board in Arlington, Virginia.  He also taught public finance and urban leadership as the William H. Bloomberg Lecturer in Public Management at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government while coordinating programs for the municipal innovation program at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Williams was the independent chief financial officer of the District from 1995 to 1998, working with and on behalf of local officials, the DC Financial Control Board, and the US Congress. Before that, he worked in various positions in federal, state, and local government, including as the first chief financial officer for the US Department of Agriculture, appointed by President Bill Clinton.  

Williams is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and former president of the National League of Cities. In addition to his board position at the Urban Institute, he serves on several company boards and the board of the National Geographic Society. 

Williams holds a BA from Yale, an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a JD from Harvard Law School, as well as a number of awards and honorary degrees, including Governing Magazine Public Official of the Year in 1997 and the 2020 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development.