In an effort to highlight the heroes in our community, The Daily Democrat asked readers to nominate someone they know and admire to be our second-ever “Yolo County Hero.”

Five nominees who have proven to be extraordinary individuals by giving back to their community were selected to show what it means to be a local hero.

A man tirelessly working to ensure Yolo County’s older residents have a safe and comfortable place to live in their later years.

A Woodland city council member who also serves as a mentor for Yolo County’s young women.

A Woodland resident who strives to show off how vibrant Woodland can truly be.

A young man who works to support the community with an emphasis on the youth.

While all of these nominees are heroes in their own way, Jayne Williams stood out as an advocate for Yolo County’s future — most specifically for Yolo County’s adolescents and young adults — preparing young folks for their future careers and lives.

Williams, founder and executive director of All Leaders Must Serve (ALMS), has made it her mission to help mentor Yolo County youth and give them the skills they need for success. Now, Williams can add “Yolo County Hero” to her extensive list of accolades.

“[With this] I’m going to use it to build relationships with businesses so those hopefully will become partners to ALMS that will allow us to bring our youth for internships, entry-level jobs and or just volunteering on site so they get access to more opportunities,” Williams told the Daily Democrat.

All Leaders Must Serve reaches out to the socially, emotionally, and economically disadvantaged high school and college-age youth who are unprepared for the adult workforce. ALMS can bridge the gap between high school and a living wage job by providing practical and technical training not offered in Woodland.

ALMS helps offset racial, economic, and academic disparities through professional and community networks and long-term mentoring services. By providing a healthy family surrogate when positive role-modeling may not occur at home, ALMS helps youth struggling to figure out life get a second chance to build confidence and interpersonal skills and experience a sense of belonging. This empowers and encourages responsibility and empathy for others.

“Some of our young people don’t even have someone [in their lives] who will give them a hug,” Williams explained. “Young people don’t see their value and purpose — they don’t see it, many of them don’t. We want people who see the value and the purpose of our young people, yeah, and are and are ready to help them.”

Williams’ passion for helping today’s adolescents and young adults derives from her personal experiences, ones where she often felt she was slipping through the cracks. Though she didn’t come to the Golden State until she was 18, Williams said the hurdles she faced exist across state lines.

“I grew up at a time where Black and Brown students were not educated. Where I lived, my father retired from the Air Force Academy in 1960 … and at 18 [after graduating], I came to Sacramento by myself. I graduated illiterate,” she recalled. “But I could always get a job because I had the soft skills — I knew how to smile and I had the personality.”

However, Williams’ life changed when she met her first mentor, who offered Williams an assistant position in California School Boards Association. The only requirement to be hired: Williams had to learn to read.

“I taught myself how to read about two weeks, and came back to her, and she hired me as her assistant, and I eventually ended up working for the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee at the state capitol.”

She said after decades of working in California’s capital city, Williams found herself in Esparto, where she realized there was an incredible need for a program to catch the youth who felt invisible — just as Williams felt she was in her own journey.

“I wanted something that would catch kids falling through the cracks — kids like me, kids who felt invisible,” Williams explained. “So I know these kids, and I wrote a program that these kids could relate to. So it’s very interactive, and I get the privilege of encouraging and inspiring them every day I see them. That’s my passion.”

ALMS has become a multi-faceted, wraparound service and support system that extends beyond the availability of the government and businesses that offer only mainstream resources. Available weekdays, evenings, and weekends, Mentors and Social Support System volunteers all walk alongside young adults from high school to the adult living-wage workforce.

Whether success comes immediately or after years of personal growth and development, ALMS youth are equipped by seeing the program through to completion (initially 10 weeks). They are given the tools to accomplish and excel in their personal and workplace goals.

“I’m most proud of students,” Williams said. “We start seeing the transformation of who they become within the third meeting. Their eyes start lighting up with their confidence, which is the number one thing we try to work on.”

For Williams, being nominated as a “Yolo County Hero” isn’t a reflection of her own work — rather, she believes it shows just how much ALMS is needed in Yolo County. She was recently recognized as the 2024 Member of the Year during the Woodland Chamber of Commerce’s 93rd Annual Dinner and Awards ceremony.

“To nominate me is to nominate the organization,” Williams told the Daily Democrat. “Our purpose and passion is for our youth … to be recognized as a hero shows that our community understands the importance of this mission.”

The title of Yolo County Hero also comes with a consolation prize — $500 for the awardee to use in any way they wish. Williams asked The Daily Democrat to make the check out to ALMS, and she said she plans to put the funds right back into the youth she works with every day.

Most specifically, she wants to invest in equipment and resources to start a podcast — created and produced by the students enrolled at ALMS — to share the organization’s message and work with the world.

“I have young people reaching out to ALMS from Florida and other states, wanting the information we share— I can’t go to Florida, so I’m inviting our students to do podcasts with me on the lessons so we can put it up on social media that can be accessed by young people anywhere,” Williams shared. “Young people need to hear other young people and what they have to say, and then they start finding out that they’re not the only ones who are going through these things or thinking these things.”

For more information on ALMS, you can go to the organization’s website at https://www.allleadersmustserve.