Dr. Ashley Williams is a trauma, acute care & burn surgeon at the University of South Alabama and the director for the USA Health Center for Healthy Communities. Her areas of interest include firearm injury prevention, health equity and advocacy.
She is the founder and director of Project Inspire, a hospital-led violence prevention program that provides education, exposure and mentorship for justice-affiliated youth in effort to empower them to reach their full potential in lieu of revictimization and gun violence perpetration. Dr. Williams also serves as the medical director for the USA Health Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP). These programs are pieces to a larger collaborative comprehensive strategy for firearm injury prevention that also includes building a trauma-informed community safety network, prevention, intervention, aftercare, survivor’s network, and advocacy.
Under her leadership, the USA Health Center for Healthy Communities has a mission to help people build stronger and healthier communities. To achieve this, she has developed a framework that bridges the gap between the community and the healthcare and academic systems using community-engaged approaches to foster community-centered and outcome-focused educational and research opportunities. The programs include the development of a community advisory board, integration of the community health worker (CHW) model into the health system, hosting medical town halls, and providing educational programs to underserved students. It is partnership with community that drives the center’s research, program implementation, and advocacy efforts