When Linda Williams-Moore’s high school guidance counselor told her she was not “college material,” she set out to prove him wrong and make sure no one else felt the way she did on that day because “that breaks your spirit.” She graduated from Southern Connecticut State University and took a job with her alma mater, which led to a 17-year career in student affairs at five colleges, including the University of Minnesota, which marked her first venture into the Midwest. Her life was forever changed when she became a single mother with the birth of her daughter Autumn, now 10. The pair lived campus life together, even sharing a dorm room at Iowa State University while Williams-Moore completed work toward a master’s degree in higher education. She landed a job at Drake University, met her husband and became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Now, she is looking forward to the challenges ahead as the new executive director of the YWCA of Greater Des Moines.

What was life like for you growing up in Connecticut?

I loved to read and learn and was more of a homebody, and I was the one involved in student government and the black student union. I went to a predominantly white high school and our family was one of the first African-American families to move into our community. So I dealt with a lot of things growing up because racism was real. You get called a lot of things; you get looked at as if you’re not as smart, so I worked harder.

Did that make you stronger and influence your personality?

Absolutely. You learn to speak up for yourself or you get walked over. As I have gone on in my career, I have had such a love for [African-American] students at predominantly white campuses because I lived it and understand it and understand that struggle to try to fit in, to look for mentors.

What were your goals going into college?

I did not know what I was going to do because my guidance counselor in high school told me that I should not go to college, that I was not college material. My goal then was to never let another person feel like I felt on that day. That breaks your spirit, and that’s why I think it’s so important for me to help people find their purpose and their calling.

What drove your career in higher education?

I worked very closely with young, college-age women. I work from an empowerment model of helping women build their lives. What better place to start than with an 18-year-old who’s trying to figure out what the next step is in life? I did not talk a lot until I was about 16, when I opened up and found my voice. So that’s why it’s important for me to help people find their voice, because when I found it, I found out how powerful it was to be able to speak up for yourself and to be able to hold your own.

How important is mentoring in your life?

I believe that mentors are critical in you having that person who you can talk to, who can help you develop as a person. I take nothing away from parents. My parents are awesome, and they were great role models. My mentor is also awesome. Sixteen years later, my first mentee was in my wedding.

What was your first impression of Midwestern life?

It was different. It wasn’t so much Minneapolis, because it’s a city. It was that road along the way where there was nothing. I think one of my first concerns came when they told me our staff training was going to be at a camp in the woods. That could have been a turning point for me. But I have grown to love the Midwest. The East Coast runs in my blood, and I still miss it. But when I go there now, I know that I’ve slowed down.

What did life as a single parent teach you?

It grew me up fast. But I wouldn’t trade it. I learned a lot about myself, and it refocuses you in your own life because it makes you accountable to someone. But in spending time with [my daughter] and me, you’ll see she and I have a special relationship. She hung in there with me. We left Minnesota and moved to Ames, where she lived in a dorm. She was sitting on my lap at 2 a.m. while I was writing my thesis.

When did you and your husband marry?

Our wedding was Valentine’s Day 2004. We eloped in Las Vegas on July 3, 2003. But you know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so everyone found out at the wedding. I did not know I was getting married in Las Vegas. I went there for a conference and my fiancé at the time accompanied me and he set everything up. We were going to go to dinner and got into a cab, and the cab drove us to City Hall. He said, “I want to marry you. I thought you said you would marry me.” I got married 10 hours later.

Why enter the ministry?

I’ve known since I was 16 that I was called into the ministry. That was a gift that God had given me – to work in the ministry, to preach his word. It’s been a great experience, and it’s wonderful being in ministry with my husband (who is working toward his ordination) and being able to touch each other’s lives in that way. There are still people who struggle with women in the ministry. But I know that I have been called, I know that God has placed that gift inside me and I don’t deny it for anyone, and I’m going to keep doing it until I leave this earth.