Mialeeka Williams, general counsel, Kit Check. (Courtesy photo)

The new and first general counsel at Washington, D.C.-based Kit Check Inc.—a former in-house counsel with Atlanta corporate giants The Coca-Cola Co. and McKesson Corp.—says she wakes up every day feeling like she's making a positive difference in the world.

Mialeeka Williams feels good about her company's top product: software that allows hospitals to detect when medications go missing. They call it "combating drug diversion," also known as theft.

The reason that is so uniquely important to Williams is deeply personal.

"My father died of a drug overdose," she said. "It shaped a lot of how I began to formulate the rest of my life. I wanted to be in a position where I can make a difference for other people so this doesn't happen to them."

That helped her make the decision to leave Atlanta, her home for the past 13 years, to join Kit Check as its first-ever general counsel. She made the transition in May, working remotely like millions of employees because of the coronavirus pandemic. But she has since moved to Washington.

"I'm excited to join Kit Check, as we share the vision of using innovative technology to help keep providers and patients safe," she said. "I'm looking forward to adding significant value to the company, especially in supporting its core mission of combating drug diversion." The mission, she added, is "very serious and very important."

Kevin MacDonald, CEO and co-founder of Kit Check, said in a statement he's "thrilled to have Mia join Kit Check as a fully immersed part of the team."

The company started in 2011 and provides automated medication tracking and diversion detection software for hospital pharmacies in the U.S. It reports more than 500 U.S. and Canadian hospitals have tracked more than 100 million medications using Kit Check's radio-frequency identification product. Plus, the company's Bluesight for Controlled Substances software is currently in use in more than 100 hospitals, with more than 11 million cases tracked.

"As the company continues to enjoy steady growth, it's critical to have legal counsel with a deep understanding of our industry who can provide expert guidance as we move forward with implementing Kit Check solutions in more hospitals across the country," MacDonald said. "By bringing on experienced, strategic individuals like Mia, we can better prevent drug diversion and keep patients and our communities safe."

Kit Check's job description for its first GC includes contract negotiations, interpreting contract language, intellectual property strategy and ensuring the organization and its products are up to date with the latest compliance regulations. "This will allow the company to be nimbler in spotting, securing and negotiating deals to implement Kit Check solutions with more hospitals and industry partners," the company said in announcing the hire.

Much of Williams' resume suggests she's been preparing for the role. She started out as a patent lawyer. Later, she handled all IP and related legal affairs as in-house counsel with Rhodia Inc., a science company now known as Solvay, in New Jersey. Then she worked for The Coca-Cola Co. in Atlanta as an in-house counsel for IP. Later, she became chief counsel for the U.S. pharmaceuticals hospital segment at McKesson in Atlanta.

Most recently before joining Kit Check, she was executive legal counsel at Engage Partners in Atlanta, working with Virence Healthcare IT Co.

Still, becoming a GC—or even a lawyer—was not part of a master plan. Williams is a first-generation lawyer, first-generation college graduate, "first-generation everything," she said. She grew up in Compton, California, just south of downtown Los Angeles, in the era when it was known for gang violence, unemployment, poverty and being ranked as one of the 10 most dangerous cities in America. She said she coped by staying focused on her studies, becoming valedictorian of her high school graduating class.

"That became my springboard to get out of that area," she said.

She moved across the country to Washington and earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from Howard University. She went to work as an engineer for Procter & Gamble. She remembers giving free makeup samples to her family. "They thought it was the best job and that law school was pointless," she said. But she went anyway, to night classes while keeping her full-time day job. She earned her J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1999.

Though she couldn't have predicted her path, she views it as evidence that every move doesn't have to be programmed.

"I could not have planned my career any better," she said. "It has worked out for the best. I'm so happy to have landed at such a great company."