Project ECHO Participant Spotlight: Aneurin ‘Bill’ Williams Jr.
Project ECHO Spotlight interviews feature advocates, participants or team members discussing their experiences with ECHO. Read more ECHO Spotlights.
Aneurin ‘Bill’ Williams Jr.
Supporting Employees, Supporting Employees in Recovery
Background
My background is really very simple. I spent 42+ years in human resources starting right out of college. I’m a graduate of Millersville University and I started in Lancaster County at Victor F. Weaver in New Holland. I was hired at the time because I was fluent in Spanish.
The most recent [position I held] was Vice President of Human Resources for a manufacturing firm in Tioga, […] Pennsylvania. I was also in charge of Human Resources across California, Colorado, Texas and Wisconsin. In terms of expertise, I was a labor relations [representative] in charge of union contracts from the management perspective. I’ve been through some very interesting topics through the course of [my] career […] dealing with many people across different state guidelines and regulations.
Participating in ECHO
I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about myself. You don’t excel in any background on your own unless you’re in a constant learning mode. This was going to be an opportunity, in my mind, to be exposed to talent in a field that I was not totally immersed with, not on the medical side. I felt that I would have an opportunity to contribute some reality on how that all works once you get into the “real world” of working and what those challenges might be in order to make this a successful transition. It wound up being exactly that.
I was just impressed with the breadth of experience and knowledge from so many different aspects of the problem from providers, from medical experts, [and] from the department of labor/government. We had a good cross-section represented as employers […] each group has its own wealth of knowledge and expertise to share and I think, when you put all that together, that’s how you come up with what doesn’t work and what does work. Expectations versus realities. I think that’s kind of the value of cases being brought by participants as much as possible….
Advice for Future Participants
If given the opportunity [to participate in a Penn State Project ECHO series] they should jump on it. It is an opportunity unlike any other I’m sure that they’ve been exposed to. Just for the approach and the process because that presents a unique opportunity for folks to deal with issues that they [handle] on a day-to-day basis with a little more insight and with the benefit of a lot more expertise.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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