William Aal is a longtime political activist, organizing since the early 1970. He was influenced by feminist and ecological politics and has worked consistently in both neighborhood struggles and international solidarity movements.

He has organized people-to-people projects from his home in Seattle to southern Africa and Nicaragua. Exploring methods of creating authentic relationships, he has worked extensively on popular education models for use in relating global and local economic issues.

Bringing his early education in biology and technology to bear in his political work, he has worked around issues of genetic testing and civil rights. He is an associate producer of two award-winning videos on biotechnology. He has hosted and designed major public dialogues on these issues.

He is a co-founder of the Urban Action School, dedicated to urban-based popular education.

With Margo Adair and Steve Leeds, William worked with the Pine Springs Association on the Navajo reservation to create a learning center for their cultural and economic redevelopment.

He has been an executive director of two arts organizations (Tompkins County Arts Council, Ithaca, New York from 1973-75 and Pratt Center for Fine Arts, Seattle, WA 1985-86) and has been a board member of several nonprofits.

In addition, he has extensive experience in the information technology field as both a programmer and manager.