Chad Williams, executive director of the West North Avenue Development Authority, was fired October 1, Baltimore Beat has learned. Williams has faced numerous allegations of workplace misconduct and sexual harassment and was convicted of domestic violence in Nevada while leading the Baltimore agency.
State Delegate Marlon Amprey, a nonvoting member of WNADA’s board, confirmed that the board met on October 1 and voted to “relieve Mr. Williams of his duties” after a video showing him yelling at a prominent local artist after a WNADA board meeting on September 29 circulated widely on social media.
“The board felt that it was in the best interest of WNADA to move forward with new leadership,” Amprey told Baltimore Beat. Amprey said the board plans to appoint an interim director as soon as possible before beginning their search for someone to fill the position permanently.
Williams was appointed in 2022 despite numerous media reports about his alleged workplace misconduct, sexual harassment allegations, and more than $125,000 in settlement money paid by the Nevada housing authority for sexual harassment and age discrimination complaints against Williams, who was later seemingly forced out of that position.
Baltimore Beat first reported in April 2025 the news of the previous misconduct, sexual harassment, and conviction, in addition to numerous former WNADA employees’ allegations of misconduct against Williams dating back to 2023, including stalking and harassment.
“What he has is … power, and what we’ve experienced is an extreme abuse of that power,” said Keyonna Penick, a former chief of staff and special assistant at WNADA, earlier this year. “And if [he’s] left in that position, it will only get worse.”
In the video, artist Chin-Yer Wright is asking Williams about the Beat’s reporting and the allegations from the women employees.
“Fox News says a whole lot of stuff, do you believe that?” Williams says to her. When she references the Beat and the women, he responds, “Well bring them up because that’s not true.”
Over the course of the two-minute video, several people attempt to pull Williams away from the interaction and de-escalate the situation, only for him to brush them off and continue admonishing Wright.
“First of all, do you think if I have this kind of job, if that was true, would I be here? You think about it. You think about that.”
“Chinyer and other members of our creative community showed up at one of their board meetings today to get important questions answered about contracts that have not been honored to many Artists, creatives, and small business owners locally here in Baltimore for services rendered,” wrote artist and activist Aaron Maybin in a Facebook and Instagram post sharing the video.
Wright told Baltimore Beat in an interview that she and other artists were not paid in a timely manner for work that they had done for the West North Avenue Farmers Market, a monthly event launched by WNADA on July 25. Wright said she was finally paid for her work in June and July in September after reaching out to Senator Antonio Hayes, but said she attended the September 29 meeting to support the performing artists who had still not been paid and wanted to voice their concerns. Hayes did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Baltimore Beat.
The July and August markets were the only ones WNADA put on; the agency announced on September 22 that they would be ending the farmers market season early, cancelling the events scheduled for September 26 and October 31.
A third-party investigation into workplace misconduct at the agency was launched shortly after the Beat’s reporting in April, with the “organizational assessment” finding that employees of the agency had dire concerns about its leadership and treatment of employees, alleging that Williams helmed the agency like a “dictator.”
Employees detailed issues with “siloed operations” that hindered collaboration; a perceived lack of human resources and use of informal hiring processes; discretionary spending that seemed to clash with the mission of the organization; limited trust in leadership and low morale leading to retention issues; and unprofessional behavior such as inappropriate jokes about race and age and “public admonishments.”
Read the full WNADA workplace investigation
The report also noted that since the Beat’s investigation was published in April, leadership had failed to directly acknowledge the matter with employees, which “intensified concerns about transparency and accountability, and further strained staff confidence.”
The investigation was conducted by Daniel Leonard, former director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Fair Practices at the Maryland Department of Commerce, according to a source who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the investigation.
Some said working at WNADA is so hostile that they had to walk on eggshells, with Williams having a history of making remarks about race, gender, and age that disturbed some employees. Some also questioned the transparency and fairness of the agency’s grant-awarding process under his leadership.
“Some employees view Williams as authoritarian, with one describing him as having ‘dictator’ tendencies and a resistance to employee questions about their roles,” the investigation states.
“Another noted that his confidence can come across as arrogance, citing a statement attributed to Williams in which he claimed he was selected for the role because ‘Baltimore couldn’t find anyone with his skills.’ These mixed perceptions suggest a leadership style that some interpret as confident and effective, while others see it as overly controlling and dismissive.”
Williams’ interpersonal behavior came up many times in the report. Several people viewed him as targeting employees, singling out one employee in particular to publicly admonish them and tell them to look for another job.
A number of employees also told the investigator that they didn’t have faith that the agency would be able to resolve problems internally, with one employee saying “I would just leave before reporting a problem.”
Less than a year into his employment by the state of Maryland, court records show Williams was charged with misdemeanor and felony battery charges in Las Vegas after being arrested on New Year’s Day for “punching a sleeping woman, throwing her to the ground and kicking her in the ribs and face,” the Review-Journal reported. The woman was bruised and had dried blood on her face when police arrived after a 911 caller nearby reported hearing a woman crying and yelling “stop” inside the house, according to the article. The woman told police that Williams stopped her from calling 911.
The charges included misdemeanor battery constituting domestic violence and two felony charges: coercion constituting domestic violence and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm constituting domestic violence, according to court documents.
Court records show Williams pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge in March 2025 after initially pleading not guilty to all the charges. The other charges were later dropped. A court document signed by the judge on April 7 stated that she found him guilty of the misdemeanor, giving him a suspended sentence of 180 days in Clark County Detention Center and ordering him to fulfill 45 hours of community service and 26 weeks of domestic violence counseling.
As Williams fought the Las Vegas court case over the last two years, several former WNADA employees in Baltimore — all women — allege he has harassed, stalked, and illegally retaliated against employees since at least 2023.
In early spring of 2025, these employees accused Williams of targeting and humiliating women on the job, potentially stalking one woman, and manipulating the grant process to favor certain entities.
In an April 7 email sent to a long list of city and state officials, board members, former staff, and media, Penick, the former chief of staff and special assistant, detailed misconduct by Williams and called for his firing. The email has seemingly connected the women, who previously were not in regular contact with each other but, finding similarities in their treatment, were then emboldened to speak out.
Penick and three other former WNADA employees, all of whom are Black women with decades of experience in housing, government, and related jobs, told the Beat that Williams frequently engaged in inappropriate conduct on the job. In many cases, the women backed up each other’s stories and descriptions of Williams’ leadership.
One former WNADA employee, Randi Williams (no relation to Chad Williams), said she believed in the work that the organization is tasked with. That’s what compelled her to join the organization and put her years of experience — which includes founding a company focusing on eco-friendly affordable housing — to work. As a PhD student at Morgan State University, where she studies architecture, urbanism, and built environments, focusing on the environment and West Baltimore, WNADA felt like the perfect outlet for her to give back to the community.
Instead, the executive director ensured the spotlight was on him, she said.
“This is about West Baltimore,” Randi Williams said. “This ain’t about you.”
