Bridgette Williams
Chair, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City Deputy; Director, Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City
Kansas City, MO
Bridgette Williams serves as deputy director of the Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City, a highway-heavy utility chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Founded in 1950, the Heavy Constructors Association has been in the forefront of transportation, public works, infrastructure issues and campaigns in the Greater Kansas City Area, and in the states of Kansas and Missouri. The Association’s members have built most of the highways, bridges, streets, airports, dams and clean and waste water systems in both Kansas and Missouri.
Williams has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of transportation, construction and development policy (which includes workforce). She began her career as a part-time receptionist at the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, and was quickly promoted to public relations coordinator and later Committee on Political Education Director. In 1997 Williams won a historical election as president of the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO. She was the first African American and the first female elected to the position in the country, and served in this role for more than 15 years. The Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO is the umbrella organization for the unions in the Greater Kansas City area representing more than 100,000 working men and women.’
Williams has worked extensively on issues related to economic development, transportation, workforce development, and labor relations. She has participated in numerous negotiations of both the Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City.