Meet Paulette Williams, Founder & Managing Director

Paulette Williams has worked in higher education for over a decade leading widening participation and student success projects. She has worked on a range of access projects including tutoring and mentoring programmes in schools, sustained engagement initiatives for students in further education and most recently an institution-wide project addressing the BME attainment gap.

Paulette grew increasingly concerned about black students’ relationship with higher education. From the types of institutions African Caribbean students typically enrol at to the overall attainment and experiences of students who decide to go, there was a deeper issue that had been ignored for a long time.

Whilst recognising that the vast majority of the responsibility lies with institutions that need to create more inclusive learning environments, Paulette saw an opportunity to create a network in higher education for the black community to support students throughout the academic lifecycle, deliver activities in partnership with higher education institutions and encourage students to stay in academia.

Paulette is currently studying towards an MSc in the Department for Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London.

Contact – paulette@leadingroutes.org