Grace Williams

Grace Akosua Williams is the Director of Citizen Tasmania and a refugee and human rights advocate, and 2022 Echoing Green Global Fellow. Grace recently graduated from the University of Tasmania Law School with a VC Award for global leadership and was shortlisted as Tasmania Young Australian of the Year and was awarded the Tasmanian Human Rights Youth Award in 2020. She has been awarded the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship, alumni of which include former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Grace came to Australia after her family was forcibly displaced from Sierra Leone during the civil war. Grace escaped to Ghana, where she was born and resettled in Australia in 2005. 

Grace developed the program, Ethics of Thriving, a settlement mentorship program dedicated to elevating the agency and interconnection of newly arrived migrants and promoting meaningful integration through existing community organisations. Citizen Tasmania is currently developing a partnership program with TasTAFE, Tasmania Chamber of Commerce & Industry and other community organisations to create stronger pathways between skills and meaningful employment for refugees.

Grace is a film-maker and has directed and produced a range of films to achieve social change. In 2018 Grace directed and produced a documentary that explores the human rights stories of ten Tasmanians from diverse backgrounds. These stories showcase the human rights challenges of each individual demonstrating the need for adequate Human Rights Legislation in Tasmania.