A Letter from Our Founder

Dear Community,

I started Multi Communities after surviving physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and spiritual abuse. As my healing progressed, I became passionate about helping predominantly Black faith and other communities to END shame and silence about these issues, and to aid in breaking intergenerational cycles of violence.

Multi Communities builds a safety net for Black survivors of violence and healing opportunities for Black individuals who have behaved violently. These resources are provided from WITHIN our community. We train trusted Black leaders to identify warning signs, support survivors and connect them to community resources, facilitate healing for those who have behaved violently, and shift the culture around domestic and gender-based violence in their communities. In doing this, it is my deepest hope that we create safety for those most at-risk.

My life is devoted to serving those who have been impacted by domestic and sexual violence. No one can do it alone; however, every individual can do something to change the tapestry of violence. Together, we can shape our society, into a peaceful, humankind landscape.

Bettie Williams-Watson
Founder, Executive Director, and Survivor

  • Ginny NiCarthy Award for Excellence in Advocacy from King County Coalition Ending Gender Based Violence

  • Martin Luther King Medal for Distinguished Service for 33 years of groundbreaking work in addressing domestic and sexual violence in predominantly Black/African American faith communities by King County Council

  • Nominee for Inspiring Positive Aging through Activism by Sound Generations National Purpose Fellow for social innovation in addressing violence in predominantly African American faith communities

  • National R.O.S.E.(for survivors, who have become activists) Award nominee Award from King County Coalition

  • Against Domestic Violence for addressing domestic and sexual violence in predominantly African American faith communities

  • Award from King County Sexual Assault Resource Center for addressing sexual violence in predominantly African American faith communities

Awards & Recognition

Board of Directors & Staff

  • Bettie Williams-Watson

    Executive Director

    Bettie Williams-Watson is an advocate, speaker, community organizer, activist, nonprofit leader, and survivor. After experiencing gender-based violence in the 1980s, Bettie founded Multi Communities to support Black women and girls experiencing domestic violence. For the past 35 years, Bettie has designed and implemented programs to simultaneously address the root causes of violence in King County’s Black communities and provide direct, emergency services to women and girls at risk. Bettie is an expert collaborator, a skilled direct-service provider, and a visionary leader.

  • Donal Thompson

    President

    Donal Thompson is an Architect/ Architectural Designer. He has over 38 years of experience with commercial and residential projects. He has worked on the following project types: Restaurants, new and renovated and high end commercial and residential projects. He has provided administrative and technical instructions; to clients, sub-contractors, suppliers and other design team members. It has always been important to him to maintain a great relationship with the client, general contractors and sub-contractors.

  • Dr. Bea Butler

    Vice President

    Bea Butler has worked for Seattle Public Schools for over 22 years. She has held a variety of positions from Teacher to Administrator. Her current role is as a Racial Equity Advancement Specialist. In this role she is a coach for 21 schools in the north end of Seattle, supporting Racial Equity Teams whose mission is to create Anti-Racist school communities.

  • Yvonne Rodriguez

    Director of Marketing

    Yvonne is a tenured marketing professional, earning her MBA from Washington State University. She has spent the majority of her career in the Consumer-Packaged Goods industry, working for companies like Kraft Foods, Oberto Brands and Darigold. She has recently transitioned into the tech industry and is currently managing a marketing team at Amazon. She has spent many years in the non-profit space serving in many capacities for her sorority, Kappa Delta Chi. She has a passion for community and desire to break the cycle of generational trauma.

  • William 'Bill' Butler

    Director of Education

    Bill was born in Norfolk, Virginia and raised in Seattle Washington. He has over 30 years of experience with nonprofit and educational organizations. Bill works for the Seattle Public Schools as a teacher. He holds degrees in Urban Affairs: Connecticut College, Visual Communications: Seattle Central, Teaching: Heritage College, and Media Literacy: Antioch. He serves the community through his involvement with several organizations, including the Black Child Development Institute, the Black Genealogy Research Group, South End Stories and Multi-Care Communities

  • Judge Lori K. Smith

    Advisory Director

    Judge Lori K. Smith was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to the Court of Appeals in August 2018. Prior to her appointment, she was a King County Superior Court judge for over six years after having been a King County Superior Court commissioner for six years. While on the superior court, Judge Smith served as the Unified Family Court Chief Judge. Judge Smith has been actively involved in efforts to improve the judicial system and is the co-chair of the Minority and Justice Commission's Education Committee and the co-chair of the Gender and Justice Commission's Tribal and State Court Consortium.