During Black History Month, WVU’s Office of Health Promotion and Wellness is proud to recognize African American faculty, staff and students who go above and beyond their typical roles at the University. We celebrate those who are building community wellbeing by helping people feel connected, engaged and safe in their communities. It is our pleasure to recognize Janelle Williams, Human Resource Partner for West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
Williams provides significant service to the institution and to her community. Janelle is a member of the University’s Priority Action Team addressing purposeful wellbeing. A member of that team wrote, “She has many gifts and talents, and she uses those talents to help leave individuals and groups better than she found them.”
Named the WVU Tech representative to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, she has been instrumental in training and development, including coordinating active learning experiences that facilitated culture change at the University. Williams is also a member of the Social Justice Committee and WVU Women’s Leadership Initiative.
She has facilitated programs to include food drives, cancer walks and heart health awareness, and, she recently served as the featured vocalist at the WVU MLK Unity Breakfast. Williams also has performed in Ragtime, The Wiz, The Color Purple and Dream Girls as a member of the Charleston Light Opera Guild.
Williams is an active participant in Alpha Kappa Alpha and her commitment to service extends to her membership in The Links, Inc., the largest volunteer service organization of women committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.
If you would like to recognize an extraordinary person in celebration of Black History Month, send your nomination to amsidwell@hsc.wvu.edu.