Chief Judge Charles Williams recently joined the board of Embracing Our Differences. Williams is the chief judge of the 12th Judicial Circuit, which includes Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. He graduated from Howard University and the University of Florida College of Law. After a career in the state attorney and public defender’s offices, he went into private law practice and then was later appointed by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles as a circuit court judge. Embracing Our Differences is a nonprofit that organizes an annual, large-scale outdoor juried art exhibition and a series of educational initiatives, programs and resources designed for teachers and students.