Nathan Williams: A Passion for Supporting Public Servants

Nathan Williams is pretty transparent about how and why he landed in the public sector HR function.

“I got into HR to get off the retail sales floor, not out of some grand passion for HR, to be honest,” says Williams, who has worked in various roles with well-known retail brands including Old Navy, Target and T-Mobile.

“But once I was in, it became a passion,” says Williams, who holds an MBA in international business and management from Arizona State University, and a bachelor’s in business economics from the University of West Georgia.

Williams was named assistant city manager for the Town of Gilbert, Ariz. in June 2026, after serving the town in a number of HR-related roles over nine years.

For example, Williams joined Gilbert’s workforce in July 2017 an organizational development manager. He was eventually promoted and served as the Town’s Chief People Officer for six years, before being named interim assistant city manager this year and, ultimately, assistant city manager.

He did have HR experience before becoming a public servant, beginning with that first role as human resources operation manager with Old Navy from 2000 to 2004. Williams oversaw the HR function or the L&D function for a few smaller companies over his career. Such experiences helped nurture Williams’ passion for the people side of the organization.

“I fell in love with employee engagement and development. And then I was fortunate enough to bring that experience to the public sector, and find a new passion for supporting public servants,” says Williams.

“So, what started as an escape route turned into a calling. Funny how that works.”

Williams joined the Arizona PSHRA chapter in 2023, and PSHRA National in July 2024, “first as a board member [he’s now president of PSHRA’s Arizona chapter], looking for an opportunity to build a larger network, both for the broader public sector HR community and for myself.”

“Coming out of COVID, networks had shrunk or collapsed,” he continues, “and I knew this made all of our work harder as we navigated never-before-seen expectations and challenges in the workplace.”

With his recent promotion to assistant city manager, Williams is eager to make a significant impact on his community in this new role, and to continue supporting the HR community as a PSHRA member, he says.

“PSHRA has provided access to an amazing network of professionals and great learning opportunities. The opportunity to volunteer on my local chapter board has also reignited much of my passion for HR and reminded me why this work is so important!”