Sam Williams leaves for Portland after a decade at SKC

By Lailani Upham

Proud mom, Karen Moran Williams hugs her son, Sam during his going-away party at SKC last Wednesday. Williams took a job at Portland State University and was due to travel to his new home city the next day. (Lailani Upham photo)

PABLO — Sam Williams was a quiet kid, according to his mother, Karen Moran Williams.

Maybe quiet then, but Sam is now known as a leader and “go-getter” according to family and co-workers at Salish Kootenai College. Williams began in the mid-nineties as a student at SKC and said he later found his voice through the College. “It was at SKC that I participated in an internship with US WEST in Denver, Colorado and experienced the big city for the first time. The small town kid from the reservation was working at 1801 California for a large corporation and I loved it. I realized at that time I could be anything and do anything as long as I worked hard.”

Williams, who held down the fort as the Director of IT Services at SKC for almost a decade, recently received a job at Portland State University as the Academic Technology Specialist and Trainer. While at SKC, he took a two and half year absence to direct the IT department at the National Indian Telecommunications Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Williams was raised in Arlee by his single mother who worked hard to support him while his grandparents Alice and Ernie Moran did much of the child rearing during his school years, he said. “I was taught by my family the importance of community and to appreciate art and the beauty of the world around us. My grandmother was a painter and did beadwork and she was the person that inspired me and encouraged creativity. I have carried on the tradition of Native American beadwork and this has carried over into my love for photography and the digital arts.”

Faculty and staff kept a constant circle around Williams during the party, taking in last moments. Williams shared stories with friends and co-workers on the campus that helped launch his career and life. (Lailani Upham photo)

Williams received an A.S. degree in Computer Science from SKC and a B.S. degree in Business Marketing from the University of Montana. Williams not only has a creative passion for the arts and design, his heart is on educating and serving as an advocate for Higher Education, he said. While attending SKC he participated in the AIHEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium) Conference that added a wider range of educational opportunities for him, he said.

Williams’ ambition earned him a recent proud accomplishment of graduating with the 2010 Leadership Montana class. “I was honored to be chosen and humbled and inspired by the training. What a wonderful organization and would encourage people to seek out this type of training for your futures,” he said.

His big push in life, he said was his grandmother Alice; through her constant words and support he became the hard-worker and over achiever he is today, he said.

With a smile on her face, his mother, Karen admits that his grandmother spoiled him rotten. However, the “spoiling” carried a touch of tasteful success for this quiet leader. “I am so proud of him. He can do anything he puts his mind to,” Karen said. His quality of passion and care for others has helped keep his mother going, she said.

The mother’s influenced played a significant part at teaching and reaching Williams’ heart; his other passion is to help empower women. He has served as a Board of Directors member for the DOVES organization (Domestic Violence Education & Services), a private nonprofit dedicated to serving the needs of victims of domestic and sexual violence in Lake County and the Flathead Reservation. He also served on the Board for the Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula, a clinic providing family and general medical services for sexual and reproductive health care, mental health counseling and first trimester abortions.

“I’m not afraid to discuss a variety of topics because I believe we should all be life long learners. My personal quote: ‘The person in your life that needs your love the most is, yourself.’”