“Most come out of this experience very enlightened and energized to make changes in their life.”

Dr. Nathaniel Williams pairs an entrepreneurial spirit with public welfare experience to run HumanWorks Affiliates Inc. This organization is a cluster of eight corporations all focused on human services. Dr. Williams, CEO of HumanWorks, employs over 200 people and manages an operating budget of over $10 million.

Dr. Williams earned three masters degrees and a doctorate after going through the New York City foster home system. He uses his experiences to providing training and workshops for employees and community members in areas such as stress management, time management, ethics, conflict avoidance and resolution.

MO: You have such an amazing story. Can you tell our readers more about your personal background and how it led you to creating HumanWorks?

Dr. Williams: Most of my career I have worked in the human services field and wanted to make a difference. The opportunity came available for a CEO of Spectrum Community Services, Inc. and I decided to take on the challenge. Once getting acclimated to being in the foster care system, I knew there was a need like Spectrum’s homes for the developmentally disabled, for the children in the foster care system and decided to start ChildFirst Services, Inc.

MO: Can you tell us more about any of the seven corporations that are all in the HumanWorks organization?

-Dr. Williams: HumanWorks is the management company for 6 other corporations. These corporations are all their own corporations and a brief description of each is below:

-ChildFirst Services, Inc.
Group homes and foster care for children in the foster care system. This program provides the children with shelter, as well as, education, recreation and a caring home environment.

-Spectrum Community Services, Inc.
Group homes and family living settings for adults with developmental disabilities. The homes are geared around providing a warm caring atmosphere and to work with the individuals to have them reach their potential and be a part of their community.

-Spectrum Social Services, Inc.
Personal care home in Lansford, PA housing women at all different levels. Helping them reach their potential and get out in the community.

-Phoenix Services, Inc.
Day program in Lebanon County, PA. Clients come to this program for the day and are provided with activities and skills to enhance their life skills, as well as, recreation and trips out into the community.

-FunWorks, Inc.
A company that organizes different trips for people who need assistance and cannot go out on their own. The trips range from day trips to weekend and week long. They provide recreation and fun for those that can’t do it alone.

-HumanWorks Training and Education Services, Inc.
A training organization that provides personal and professional training sessions on many topics to people and organizations that want to maximize their growth. Dr. Williams also does motivational speaking.

MO: What can someone expect when attending one of your workshops?

Dr. Williams: They can expect a very intense workshop that provides you with tools to live a better life professionally and personally. Ways to recognize life events that may be the foundation of why we do some of the things we do. Most come out of this experience very enlightened and energized to make changes in their life.

MO: You wear many hats, author, speaker, TV personality, social service executive and successful businessman. How do you believe each of these works together?

Dr. Williams: Wearing so many hats helps me to see things in many perspectives. Being an author helped me to learn a lot about myself, as well as, the many things that attributed to who I am and how I behave both professionally and personally. The TV personality and speaker helps me to share what I know with others to try and reach all the people I can so they too can reach their potential. All of these come together in many ways.

MO: With today’s economic downturn as extreme as it is, how do you keep people’s spirits up when speaking about their economic strains?

Dr. Williams: I try to attack it from a positive perspective, even though it is very much a negative for most people. Then I attempt to try and give them tools to both turn it to a positive and to take steps to finding solutions. This is not always an easy task, but people do come out energized and feeling much better about their strains and hopefully learned ways to deal and reverse what is happening in their lives.

MO: I love how you mention “allowing people to stand out from the crowd”, how do you teach people to do this?

Dr. Williams: I always stress that people need to continue to look at themselves and strive to be their best and be the one that is “chosen”. You always want to be the one that stands out from others, especially in these rough economic times. By seeing what is holding them back and taking the time to change and put on a positive attitude helps them to do this.