Alumni Spotlight: Davette Williams

At every stage of her professional career, whether it be as a mother, coach, teacher or behavior analyst, women’s basketball alum Davette Williams has been impacting young people’s lives since graduating from UC Irvine in 1996.

Williams was a four-year member of the Anteater women’s basketball team, joining the program along with seven other freshmen in 1992-93. Williams, who grew up in Walnut, California, was drawn to the school for its academic reputation, proximity to home and the opportunity to be part of a rebuilding process under second-year head coach Colleen Matsuhara. 

UCI had gone through six-straight losing campaigns prior to Williams’ arrival on campus. Although the young team quickly developed a strong chemistry both on and off the court, they didn’t see immediate success with only seven wins over her first two seasons. But the players and coaches held steady in their belief in each other and in the process, and it paid off in 1994-95 when they made history as UC Irvine’s first women’s basketball team to win the conference tournament. Their 1995 championship stands as the program’s only Big West tournament title to date.

“When you lose, it kind of embeds something in you and it’s hard to get out of that losing mentality,” Williams said. “But the team stayed close and believed in each other, and the coaches believed in us too. They didn’t break the team up and get a whole new squad because we did terrible our first two years. They believed in us, and we just kept that trust in each other. We were really close as a team.”

Just like the Big West championship run, Williams’ post-collegiate journey didn’t come easy. There were setbacks and sacrifices made, but with hard work, dedication, patience and trust she continued to thrive at each stage of her career.

Williams’ initial goal out of college was to become a coach. She started out coaching basketball at Diamond Ranch High School, but with her son getting into sports, she realized she couldn’t continue down that career path. She wanted the time to be able to coach her son and be there for his games, so she turned to teaching. It was the perfect fit since she loved working with children, while it also gave her the evenings and summers to be more involved in her own child’s sporting events.

Williams ended up teaching social studies at the junior high and high school levels before a summer job changed the course of her career.

“I started working for an applied behavior analysis (ABA) company to help me get through the summer and I fell in love with it,” Williams said. “Getting to work one-on-one with kids with disabilities made me change my career path.”

Williams, who was already on her way to earning her master’s in teaching, finished the degree, but instead of going into student teaching for her credential, she decided to start an ABA program which put her on the path to becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). 

Williams continued her one-on-one work as a behavior therapist and as she gained more experience, she quickly moved up the ladder, starting with a supervisor position and then director. All the while, she was doing the coursework necessary to become a BCBA.

“It was a long journey getting certified as a BCBA because financially I had to pay for it out of pocket and I was a single parent,” Williams said. “It took me a while because there were times when I couldn’t afford to pay for the class, so I had to wait until I saved up enough money.”

During her five years as a director of autism program, Williams completed the required courses and passed her BCBA board exam. Not long after that, she found herself looking for a new opportunity that would allow her to get back to the one-on-one work she had fallen in love with.

“I felt like I wasn’t going to grow anymore in the field if I stayed where I was at because I was taking care of all the administrative work and I hadn’t really gotten the chance to be a BCBA,” Williams said. “I still wanted to be in front of the kids and the families, but at the time, I was doing all the behind-the-scenes work.”

It didn’t take long for Williams, who was now certified in addition to her extensive experience, to find a home as a BCBA at her current company, People’s Care in Chino Hills, California. Williams works with kids of all ages with developmental disabilities, specializing in autism. She creates individualized treatment plans that include goals and strategies to meet those goals for children and their families.

Williams has been in the applied behavior analysis (ABA) field for two decades, but still gets chills when talking about what she loves most about her job.

“Being in the field for about 20 years, I still have such a huge passion for it because I love changing people’s lives,” Williams said. “We change behavior. When families come to us, they are often so frustrated because their child is hitting, pinching, biting, banging their head or not able to communicate and we help to change that behavior. It brings me so much happiness to see even just the small things. It’s almost like watching your own child say their first word; I get that excitement every single time I see one of my clients do something new.”

Williams continues to make a positive impact in her current role, but she also has her sights set on the next step in her career. 

“I’m currently starting my own business,” Williams added. “It’s a slow process so I’m not going to jump the gun, but I’ve been a director, I’ve done the administrative side, I’ve worked at every level, so I feel like it’s time.”

April is Autism Awareness Month, showcasing the need for supporting, understanding, accepting, including, and empowering people on the spectrum.