Miniya Williams

Miniya Williams, is a junior Psychology major with a concentration in mental health at Spelman College. With her psychology major in mind, Miniya’s mission is to engage in questions of social and institutional transformation as it pertains to mental health and racial healing. Upon graduation, she aspires to be a Naturopathic physician with a specialization in mental health within underrepresented communities. Her goal is to open a practice specializing in advocating and treating those with mental illness and race-related trauma.

In high school, Miniya partnered with The University of Michigan Institute for Social Research on a capstone project for publication examining racism-related vigilance and biological risk. Her extensive research has led me to several commonalities of health being affected by the burdens of discrimination. This research contributed to the effectiveness of her non-profit which serves as a combative program to health issues within minority communities. In 2016, she founded a program entitled Taking Care of You with the mission of bringing awareness to elementary school students about ways to effectively communicate, express, and cope with various problems that arise. Miniya also served as a fellow for the inaugural ProGeorgia: Women of Color Initiative. During her time as a fellow she participated in life-changing conversations discussing systemic racism and the influence of white supremacy on the construction of our society.

Miniya is currently a Spelman College Social Justice associate and an HBCU venture capital (HBCUvc) fellow. Her experience in both strengthen her civic engagement leadership skills and used social justice as a catalyst for mental health awareness and economic wellness in the Black and brown community.