Mike Williams, JD, PhD, is an alumnus of the University of San Diego (1992) and has been teaching at USD since 1999. He is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and he is the Director of the Changemaker Hub. He is also the Co-Director of the Urgent Challenges Collective – Homelessness Initiative, which focuses on teaching, research, and advocacy on homelessness. Williams offers undergraduate courses on comparative politics, politics in sub-Saharan Africa, politics in South Africa, and homelessness. His research focuses on African politics, with special interests in democratization, indigenous political structures, local governance, rule of law, the courts and constitutionalism. He has published numerous articles and one book on the chieftaincy in South Africa – Chieftaincy, the State, and Democracy: Political Legitimacy in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Indiana University Press, 2010). He offers a study abroad immersion experience to South Africa every summer where USD students collaborate with high school students in the village of Makuleke in South Africa. More recently, his research has focused on the issue of homelessness, and particularly, issues related to stigma, NIMBYism, and policy decisions in San Diego County.