Sheamekah Williams

Sheamekah Williams is the President and CEO of the Evolution Foundation. The Foundation, which provides resources, support, and technical assistance to families, community coalitions, and behavioral health service providers in the state of Oklahoma, is focused on community coalition building and technical assistance, coalition training, and strategic planning. The Foundation also offers training in multiple areas, including trauma training; school-based initiatives; diversity, equity, and inclusion; implementation and program planning; policy development; etc.

Sheamekah is the immediate past Director of Children, Youth, and Family Services at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She was responsible for the administrative oversight and coordination of behavioral health services for children, youth, young adults, and families across the state. As the administrator over behavioral health services, she worked with all phases of programs, from development and strategic planning through implementation and outcomes monitoring to sustainability. Her leadership enabled exponential growth with more than a 1000% increase in enrollment during her tenure. Sheamekah oversaw the expansion of Oklahoma's System of Care (OKSOC) from a 17-county program serving children ages 5-18 to a sustained, statewide program serving individuals ages 0-25 across all of Oklahoma's 77 counties. She was the driving force behind strengthening the system of care by expanding the service array—most notably, by establishing mobile crisis response as a sustained statewide service—and building partnerships with the education, child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

As an independent consultant, Sheamekah works with organizations providing consultation and subject matter expertise on a variety of topics related to behavioral healthcare system design for children, youth, young adults and families.

As an affiliate with the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC, Inc.) she provides consultation on development and implementation of medically necessary, intensive home-based services and care coordination for youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance within a Community Mental Health Setting.

In her work with the University of Connecticut Innovations Institute, Sheamekah serves as lead consultant, providing technical assistance and expertise on crisis response design and implementation specific to Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) for children, youth, young adults, and their caregivers.

Sheamekah's recent projects include contributing subject matter expertise to Manatt Health on a white paper on Leveraging Medicaid to Support Children and Youth Living With Complex Behavioral Health Needs.

Sheamekah is an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma School of Social Work, working with students on enhancing both clinical and research skills to prepare them for their work in the field on a range of social challenges, including mental health and substance use. Working with students beginning their careers has given her unique insight into moving research into practice to enhance knowledge, interventions, and technologies. In 2021 she was named the School of Social Work's Community Faculty of the Year for bringing “rich and valued practice experience into the classroom".

As a consultant with the TA Network (SAMHSA's National Technical and Technical Assistance Center for the Children's Mental Health Initiative), Sheamekah worked with SAMHSA grantees to build new programming for children's mental health, identifying challenges and barriers, and developing problem-solving strategies.

Among her honors, Sheamekah was named Oklahoma Advocate of the Year (2023); the Heartline Oklahoma Festival of Hope Honoree (2023); received the National Association for Rural Mental Health “Going to Bat Award” (2022); and was featured in the National Wraparound Initiative's Member Spotlight (2021).

In all her work, Sheamekah is intentional about diversity, equity, and inclusion and has led integration of effective practices into recruiting and engaging staff and partners, and the development of services and supports for all Oklahomans. She works to highlight latent biases and improve understanding and acceptance of the value of diversity. Her work in these areas is grounded in her childhood and early adulthood and as a young professional in a largely African American, marginalized, and poverty-stricken area of North Tulsa. She is aware of how disparities in access to and lack of culturally appropriate services and supports adversely affects children and families. Sheamekah's willingness to tackle these difficult issues and her grace in difficult conversations have led to her recognition as a leader in this area.