Brittany Williams – Senior Project Manager, Cleveland 2016 Host Committee

Dear Colleagues:

It will attract more media coverage than any event other than the Summer Olympics. It is a gigantic trade show not just for politics but for all sorts of industries with stakes in politics. It will select, or at least confirm selection of, a candidate for President of the United States who will have a serious chance to win. And it’s coming here, to a downtown near you.

What’s involved in putting on the 2016 Republican Convention? What will downtown be like, with security perimeters and the like? Why was the Cleveland business and political community so eager to host the event? What could they hope to gain? What is the organizing structure, who is responsible for pulling it off, and who is going to pay? Where might the University and its members (such as students) fit in? And, oh yes, what happens if the Convention has to go for more than one ballot, so everybody has to stick around longer than they planned? Brittany Williams, one of our excellent graduates, joins us to help explain….

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies 

About Our Guest

Brittany Williams is the Senior Project Manager of the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee. In her role, she is responsible for assisting the apolitical organizing committee’s leadership with the implementation of strategic planning including the overall administration and operations of the Host Committee as well as supporting the day-to-day management of Committee initiatives.

Brittany Williams is a life-long Clevelander with extensive ties to the community and a distinctive understanding of the political culture of Northeast Ohio. She served as the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County and is a former elected member of the Ohio Republican Party’s State Central Committee, the governing body of the state political party.

Outside of politics, Brittany Williams served as an Economic Development Officer for the Ohio Treasurer of State and she also consulted for Fundación CODESPA in the Dominican Republic.

Brittany earned her BA in Political Science, International Studies, and Spanish at Case Western Reserve University in 2005 and her Masters degree in International Relations and International Economics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She is a Board Member of the Cleveland Area Golden Gloves amateur boxing association.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

April 1: Germany, Asylum and the Future of Europe. With Kenneth F. Ledford, Associate Professor of History and Law and Chair, Department of History at Case Western Reserve University.

April 8: Citizenship in a Divided America. With Mary Romero, Professor of Justice Studies and Social Inquiry, Arizona State University. Cosponsored by Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) program. Room to be determined.

April 15: Money, Happiness, and Redistribution. With David Clingingsmith, Associate Professor of Economics. ***Alternate Location: Baker-Nord Center, Room 206, Clark Hall***

April 22: The Obama Administration and the Future of U.S. Manufacturing. With Susan Helper, Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics and, former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce.