Alison Williams is Excel by Eight’s Coalitions Director. From 2016-2023, she served as Chief of Staff to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, supporting his transformational vision for the State. In 2022, she led Governor Hutchinson’s effort to encourage more states to increase awareness and access to computer science education, the most successful Chairman’s Initiative in the history of the National Governors Association. She also led the Arkansas Women’s Commission, the first one to exist in the state in nearly 50 years.

Before returning to Arkansas, Alison worked in the Washington, D.C., area for more than a decade in the public and private sectors. As a federal civil servant, she served in several agencies and managed external affairs portfolios. In the private sector, she consulted with both start-ups and Fortune 100 companies in the defense and homeland security industries. Early in her career, she worked with former Congressmen Asa Hutchinson and John Boozman. She is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.