Thursday, December 14, 2022 – Beverly Hilton
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Jesse Williams
Award Winner Actor, Producer & Activist
A native of Chicago and graduate of Temple University, Williams began his career teaching in low-income Philadelphia public schools. Williams’ journey as a film and television producer has garnered him an Academy Award for the short film Two Distant Strangers and several successful documentaries, including America Divided with Norman Lear. He most recently appeared in Paramount’s Secret Headquarters with Owen Wilson, Netflix’s Your Place or Mine with Reese Witherspoon and Season 3 of Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building with Meryl Streep, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez.
Williams made his Broadway debut in Take Me Out, earning his first Tony Award nomination and Tony win for Best Revival of a Play. Williams’ consistent impact as a social justice leader exploded internationally after his 2016 BET Humanitarian Award acceptance speech and his ability to weave his mission into creative and compelling collaborations with incredible artists, as he did with Hank Willis Thomas on the award-winning Question Bridge: Black Males, a transmedia art installation housed in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture’s permanent collection.
Williams is among the most prominent and impactful entrepreneurial faces in tech today: now boasting four leading mobile apps on the market: BLeBRiTY, Scholly, Ebroji and Homeschooled. He operates three under his multimedia company VISIBILTY, co-founded with renowned artist Glenn Kaino, all while connecting students to over $100 million dollars in scholarship money via America’s #1 college scholarship app, Scholly, where he is both a company partner and vocal ambassador. Williams is also the youngest to sit on the Board of Directors for both Advancement Project, a leading national civil rights organization and Harry Belafonte’s arts and social justice organization, Sankofa.org