Jennifer Williams

Trenton City Council, North Ward

Jennifer was the first transgender person elected to office in New Jersey!

Biography

Jennifer Williams is a lifelong Trentonian; and a writer, healthcare professional, a small business owner, a youth sports coach, and parent in her home state of New Jersey. In 2022, with Victory Fund’s endorsement and support, Jennifer became Trenton’s North Ward City Councilmember and New Jersey’s first transgender elected official ever. She also became the capital city’s first openly LGBTQ+ City Councilmember. She has lived in North Trenton for several decades and has been civically active in many endeavors in the Capital City.

After her swearing in to join a City Council which includes six women and one man, Jennifer has focused some of her efforts on quality of life issues, reducing poverty, environmental remediation and lessening urban heat islands, improving the quality and availability of affordable housing, creating more minority- owned small businesses, improving downtown Trenton for everyone, bettering public safety relations and outcome with the community, and making her City government more functional and transparent to the public. Previous to her serving on Trenton City Council, she served her on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for fourteen years and the last two years as its Chair.

Jennifer serves as a LGBTQ+ advocate/activist around the country and provided testimony or advocacy wherever needed. She previously served on the Advisory Board for the American Unity Fund and as a Leadership Council member for Freedom for all American’s “Conservatives Against Discrimination” team.

In the past several years, she helped advance the cause of freedom, liberty and equality for LGBTQ+ people by aiding LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations in their home states and meeting with officials across the political spectrum – resulting in several anti-LGBTQ+ bills not being brought to a floor or committee vote.

In addition to Jennifer’s advocacy work, she serves her local community as a Public Member for the District Fee Arbitration Committee – Office of Attorney Ethics, State of New Jersey; an Advisor on the Patient Family Advisory Council for University of Pennsylvania – Princeton Medical Center; and as a Member of University of Pennsylvania Health System’s Health Equity and PMX Standards Work Group. She is also a proud supporter/member of the Center for American Women and Politics, a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, New Jersey LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Garden State Equality.

Jennifer holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Tulane University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from La Salle University and an Intensive Film certificate from New York University. Jennifer and her wife have two teenagers, a rescue cat named “Simba,” and a rescue dog named “Gigi”. She remains quite proud that her children’s first rock concert was the Rolling Stones.