Representative Jonathan Williams grew up in a small town in central New Jersey. After attending college at Boston University, he served in the United States Peace Corps in the Kingdom of Morocco for more than two years. There he lived in a small, rural village on the Algerian frontier, working with a women’s artisan cooperative and also teaching English.
Subsequently, Jonathan moved to Vermont and earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Vermont, having obtained a Peace Corps fellowship. He has worked as a municipal advocate for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, as well as an administrator and municipal staffer for several Vermont communities, including Pomfret, Essex Junction, and Calais. Williams was appointed to the Vermont Communications Board by Governor Shumlin, and he has also served on the Board of Directors at Twin Valley Senior Center.
For the last five years, Jonathan has worked for the Vermont Foodbank, and is now the Senior Grants and Contracts Manager for that organization, having also served on the Foodbank’s leadership team.
Rep. Williams lives in Barre City with his partner Becky and two dogs. In his free time, he enjoys playing board games, writing speculative fiction, and playing a variety of musical instruments, including banjo, guitar, and most recently, the accordion.