Dessima D Williams is a Grenadian diplomat and Scholar, and the founder and director of the Grenada Education and Development Programme (GRENED) as well as the co-founder of HAITIwomen.  She has served as Ambassador of Grenada to the United Nations and as Grenada's ambassador to UNESCO and to the Organization of American States. Ambassador Williams also served as the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) chair during COP15 in Copenhagen (2009-2011).

Prior to her appointment as UN ambassador she was a professor of Sociology and Social Policy at Brandeis University.  Williams received a PhD in international relations and a master's degree in international development from American University and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in international relations.