Bio

Ian G. Williams, LMSW, is currently a doctoral student in the PhD Program in Social Welfare at The Graduate Center, CUNY, where he earned an Advanced Certificate in Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. He holds an MSW in Organizational Leadership and Management from The Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and a BA in East Asian Studies, Cultural Studies, and World Religions from McGill University.

Ian’s research examines technology adoption, innovation diffusion, and collective behavior in human services organizations, social networks, and welfare states, with a particular attention to how epistemic technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) reshape what counts as evidence, expertise, and social problems. Drawing on his multidisciplinary background in social work, digital humanities, and media studies, Ian is especially interested in the contested meanings of “Tech for Good” and how these are enacted in digital inclusion and civic technology initiatives, and emerging uses of AI in public sector and social welfare contexts. Ian often takes a translational approach to thinking across and through disciplines, keeping him involved in several research communities including The Social Work Innovation Network, The EMES International Research Network, The Metagovernance Project, and The Social Work AI Network.

As an educator, Ian has taught courses on social welfare policy, homelessness, and professional seminar capstones at the Silberman School of Social Work. Ian has also designed and facilitated digital skills workshops with The Graduate Center Digital Initiatives, for The Advanced Certificate in Interactive Technology and Pedagogy at The Graduate Center, and as a guest lecturer in several social welfare policy courses at The Silberman School of Social Work, The State University of New York at Albany, and Rhode Island College. Ian is an affiliate of The CUNY Public Interest Technology Lab (CUNY PIT Lab) and a founding member of The Social Work Innovation Network.

Ian’s academic work has been supported by fellowships and grants with The Humanities, Arts, Sciences, and Technology Collaboratory (HASTAC) Scholars, The Futures Initiative, The Graduate Center Digital Initiatives’ Provosts Digital Innovation Grants, The Teaching and Learning Center, and The Center for the Humanities’ Early Research Initiative (ERI) and Public Scholarship Practice Space (PS2).

Prior to enrolling at The Graduate Center, Ian worked in nonprofit and public sector human services for 10 years. Ian’s professional experience spans immigrant and refugee mutual aid organizations and a crime victim services community outreach campaign in Vermont (AmeriCorps VISTA), campaigning to reform workfare laws (Community Voices Heard), supportive housing services and housing operations in NYC (The Door, Breaking Ground), workplace mental health services and disaster relief (NYC Employee Assistance Program at the NYC Office of Labor Relations), and building behavioral health operations and data systems in a training clinic (The Harlem Family Institute). He has also worked on technology and social welfare policy as a Policy Fellow with The Network for Social Work Management. During his doctoral education Ian has primarily worked in organizational development and scholarly communications. He currently serves as a Program Social Media Fellow for the Graduate Center Digital Initiatives, where he manages scholarly communications and a portfolio of social media platforms for the PhD Program in Social Welfare, and is a Fellow with the CUNY AI Lab (CAIL), where he will support its public launch. Ian is also actively involved in campus leadership positions at The Graduate Center and served as the Officer for Governance and Leadership with The Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Council, where he oversaw a substantial revision of the DGSC’s Constitution and Bylaws.