Justin Williams

Justin Williams joined MPC in October 2018. As Senior Manager, Justin is responsible for advancing MPC’s policy advocacy efforts. He provides leadership on MPC’s legislative and budget priorities, including developing MPC’s annual policy change agendas.

Since 2020, Justin has led MPC’s legislative advocacy on lead service line replacement in Illinois. He developed research and policy recommendations, communication materials, and outreach strategies that aided the 2021 passage of the Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act. Now that the bill has passed, he works on its equitable implementation, collaborating with state agencies, nonprofit partners, and elected officials to ensure every resident of Illinois can have their lead service line replaced.

Before joining MPC, Justin was an academic researcher and teacher (PhD Political Science, University of Michigan). He leverages his academic training to draw connections across diverse issue areas, identify policy and research needs, and translate complex policies for non-specialists.

Justin lives in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. He grew up in San Diego and lived elsewhere in the Midwest for a decade before moving to Chicago in 2018. He loves messy regional sandwiches (Jim Shoo is a current obsession) and Lake Michigan in all its seasons, although picnic season is his favorite.