Duane Williams

Duane is a native of Awendaw, South Carolina, a small, rural town located 26 miles north of Charleston. He is employed with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), where he currently serves as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration. Prior to accepting this position, Duane served as the Director for the Office of Operations in Departmental Management. Prior to accepting that position, Duane served as the Deputy Director for the Office of Operations. He also served as the Deputy Director of Human Resources for Rural Development Agency prior to his appointment to the Office of Operations. Duane started his career with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 34 years ago as a Marketing Specialist in the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act Branch, a regulatory program in AMS. During his time in AMS, he held multiple leadership and management positions. He is a 1986 graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with a concentration in Transportation and Logistics. He is also a graduate of USDA’s Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program, administered through American University’s Key Leadership Program. Duane has won many leadership awards during his distinguished federal career, but none more paramount than the excellence in leadership recognition as a 2022 Presidential Rank Award recipient. Duane uses the majority of his spare time playing golf or riding his Harley Davidson. He is also an active and avid advocate for ending hunger. As such, over the past 12 years, he has organized and sponsored an annual Fight Against Hunger Golf Tournament that focused on collecting pounds of non-perishable food items that are donated to the Capital Area Food Bank. He enjoys people and always aim to make a positive difference in the lives of others and within the community.