Mr. Wayne Williams still hasn’t fully wrapped his head around it. On the night of Statesboro’s 2025 State of the City Address, he was presented with one of the highest honors a citizen can receive — the Key to the City.
“I appreciate the recognition, but I’m still trying to figure out what kind of building I can get into with it,” he joked. But behind the humor was a deeply humbling moment for a man who’s spent nearly two decades building opportunity for others.
“Things like this motivate me,” Williams said. “I don’t feel like I deserve it, so now I feel like I’ve got to live up to it — and do even more. This puts me in a position to keep going, to keep giving.”
For Williams, this recognition isn’t about ego. “It’s not something I want to just put on a résumé,” he explained. “It’s something I want to use to open doors — for funding, for resources, for impact. It validates the work, and hopefully it helps bring others on board.”
And the work is no small feat.
After retiring from the military in 2005 and returning home from Korea, Williams found himself searching for purpose in his new civilian life. “I came to a screeching halt,” he said. “I joined the NAACP and started looking around the community. And I saw that there was nothing — absolutely nothing — for our kids to do.”
That’s when the idea struck.
Drawing from his experiences in a youth-driven church in Hinesville, Williams launched Youth Career Week. With support from the NAACP, he partnered with the Department of Labor to bring professionals in to speak to students, teach them how to build résumés, practice interviews, and tour colleges like Georgia Southern, Savannah State, and South Carolina State. He even took them out to eat — for many of the kids, it was their first time in such spaces.
The second year, Williams had bigger dreams. He wanted to take students to Atlanta and beyond. When organizational funding couldn’t support it, he leaned into his role as pastor of Mount Zion.
“I told the congregation, let’s buy into this — because our kids are worth the risk.”
What started as a one-week initiative evolved into the Youth Career Commission — a grassroots, impact-driven program that has now shaped lives for nearly 20 years. Alumni have gone on to serve in the military, start businesses, and enter professional careers. Many return to give back — including Attorney Brandon Davis, now on retainer and serving on the Commission’s board, who told Williams, “I told you, you were doing a lot of great work, Pastor.”
As the Commission approaches its 20th anniversary in 2026, Williams is preparing to pass the baton to incoming president Cristina Smith. But his vision for youth development continues to evolve.
Now, he’s working to expand programming with a focus on technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. “We’re not just flying drones—we want to teach students how to build them,” he said. “We want to expose them to robotics, graphic design, and patent development—give them real skills that align with the careers of the future.”
Williams sees the potential to integrate AI tools, hands-on STEM experiences, and innovation labs into the program. “If we can help them turn their ideas into reality, we’re not just inspiring dreams—we’re creating pathways.”
His new initiative, Team SWAG, will continue in that spirit of forward-thinking mentorship and hands-on growth. “We have to keep creating value,” he said. “The greater the exposure, the greater the impact.”
When asked what advice he has for other community leaders wanting to make a difference, his answer is simple: “Find partners who share your mission. You can’t do it alone.”
Support YCCI
For more information on how you can support YCCI, visit www.youthcareercampinc.com or contact Reverend Wayne Williams at (912) 217-3549 or [email protected].
Youth Career Commission Inc. (YCCI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax exempt, Youth & Young Adult Development organization. We believe that failure to invest in youth today is a failure to invest in our future. For us, youth development is not a task or a job, it is our purpose.
