Leigh Williams-Keniston

Leonda Williams Keniston, Ph.D. serves as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC), where she provides executive leadership for academic programming, faculty development, workforce education, and student success initiatives. As the college’s chief academic and workforce officer, she oversees four academic divisions, workforce development, adult education, online learning, academic support services, and the college library.

Dr. Williams Keniston has advanced equity-centered practices, stabilized complex divisions, strengthened fiscal stewardship, and built strategic partnerships with K–12 systems, universities, industry, and community organizations. She has facilitated expansion of academic programs, workforce pathways, embedded tutoring models, predictive scheduling strategies, and increased workforce development revenue.

Dr. Williams Keniston holds a Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from Old Dominion University, and both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in sociology from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has completed executive leadership programs through Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, the American Association of Community Colleges' Future Leaders Institute, and the Lakin Institute President’s Round Table.

Prior to her current role, she served as Dean of Humanities, Fine Arts, and Social Sciences at PVCC and held senior academic leadership and faculty positions at Brightpoint Community College in Chesterfield, VA., and Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, MD. Her career spans more than two decades in community college instruction, assessment, accreditation, strategic planning, and administration.

A committed scholar practitioner, Dr. Williams Keniston regularly presents on student success, workforce alignment, and equity, and has published nationally on community colleges as drivers of economic development.  She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, Les, and is the proud parent of three adult children, including Alexandra, Sophia, and Malcom Keniston.