Lakeasha Williams

During my first year as a principal, I led several meaningful initiatives that gained both local and national attention. I was named Principal of the Year in my rookie year, and my children became the first elementary school students in New York City to participate in the TED-Ed children's program, delivering speeches on stage at Medgar Evers College. I'm also an author and Amazon bestselling writer. My first published work was part of an anthology titled Still I Thrive, which became an Amazon bestseller. I later released my first solo project, a children's book titled Shine On Brown Girl, which also achieved bestseller status. The inspiration for the book came from a viral moment during the 2020 presidential election. Following the election of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, my school created and performed a poem called Brown Girl, Brown Girl, celebrating representation, confidence, and pride among Black and Brown girls. The video quickly gained widespread attention online, making me widely recognized as the viral principal. The response to the video was deeply divided. While some viewers criticized the message and even sent me death threats to my email saying I was indoctrinating children, many others embraced it as a powerful affirmation of representation and empowerment. The video resonated not only across the United States but internationally as well, generating coverage in countries such as India and leading to interviews with international media outlets, including an Italian news station. The attention also resulted in appearances on outlets including ABC7 News and WPIX 11, along with various podcasts and local news platforms. Much of the media interest centered on the positive culture I was creating within a high-needs school with a high poverty rate and the ways I inspired students to feel engaged, empowered, and excited about learning. Ultimately, the experience reinforced how important representation and affirmation are for young people. Seeing my students and families feel seen, recognized, valued, and heard became the driving inspiration behind Shine On Brown Girl. Over the next five years, I hope to further establish myself in the entrepreneurial and leadership development space, particularly as a recognized voice and leadership authority in organizational leadership and systems transformation. I am currently expanding my business with a focus on supporting CEOs and organizational leaders in strengthening the effectiveness and sustainability of their institutions. At the core of my work is the belief that communities are deeply interconnected, whether people recognize it or not. I see my personal gift as helping to strengthen systems and structures in ways that create lasting ripple effects across communities. Having spent much of my career working within marginalized communities, I believe many of the challenges those communities face stem from a lack of access to essential resources and support systems. My goal is to help organizations build stronger foundations so that communities, in turn, are better equipped to thrive. While much of my background has been rooted in education, my work has evolved beyond simply improving academic outcomes or helping kids pass a test. I believe the larger mission is to positively impact lives by ensuring people have access to the resources, opportunities, and support necessary for long-term success. As a result, I am increasingly applying my leadership expertise in broader organizational and corporate settings, with the intention of doing more high-level consulting, leadership development work, and paid speaking engagements that can influence systems on a larger scale.

When reflecting on the people who shaped my understanding of courage and possibility, I immediately point to my grandmother. During the 1960s, my grandmother made the life-altering decision to leave South Carolina and move to New York City in search of a different future. Leaving behind the familiarity of home, everything that she knew, everybody that she knew, especially coming from a large family, she left South Carolina to come to New York City because she wanted a different life. She came on a sleeping job, a live-in domestic work opportunity. As a result of that, some of her nieces joined her, nephews joined her, and that's how this part of the family came to New York City. When we look at heroes or people who inspired us, it's not always the person who has the college degrees and the businesses. The same characteristics that my grandmother needed in order to say I want to do something new are the same characteristics that I have in me being first generation. I've been able to accomplish a lot of things, and even though I was a teen mom as well, my boys and I, we went from ABCs and 123s to college degrees and LLCs. Being in marginalized communities, children are affected by that, but because I had the love, the support and the foundation, I was like, okay, I need to do what I have to do, not only for myself, but for my first son, and then I had a second son. I was actually working and going to college, and my children were going to college because they went to the classes, they went to the children's program while I attended classes at night after work. We did this together, and now all of us have college degrees, and everybody is in their career but then also working on their entrepreneurship endeavors. When I say first generation, I'm first generation, my children are first generation, my granddaughter has her own business, Serenity Nail Polish. We are really and truly living the whole concept of creating generational wealth in real time. For my granddaughter, for her grandchildren to have a different way of life, but that started with my grandmother and what she did. On a professional level, I remember being a teacher, and even with what I knew at that time in my 20s, I knew I wanted to teach, but I never saw anything beyond teaching. I never thought about anything else beyond teaching. I had a principal at the time, Janet Jacobs, who saw some things in me, and then she planted the seeds of leadership and encouraged me to embark on that path. I held many different leadership roles for the past 20 years, and I have to give credit to her and everything that she's done.

The advice that I would share with young women considering a career in education is that education is not what it used to be. I would advise any young person to do some exploration first. We don't think about that, the importance of that in America as they do in other countries. I would encourage young people to just get to know themselves a little bit better and do some additional exploration to see what life is about a little bit before they commit themselves to education. It's not an easy path to take. If you do come into education, you have to really and truly believe that this is your calling. It's not about summer vacations. Once they have a little bit of world experience and learning beyond a college classroom, and they still feel like this is their passion, this is their give back to the world, then I would say definitely enter into the space with that mission in mind, with the mission to love changing lives. Because it's more than just reading, writing, and math. We don't speak about that enough at the college level. This is heart work. You do children a disservice if you come in here not understanding that.

Lakeasha We'll be jumping in to add more detail regarding her inspirations and motivations, and what she foresees for the future and goals are as she continues her journey to reaching new heights in her career and expanding the impact she has on her community and nation, Her hobbies and interests outside of work and what brings her joy in life, details regarding the people who have motivated and inspired her along her path, how she would like to connect with other incredible women in our network and how she would like to inspire our readers, and any additional details that will help to shine a light on the impact she's had and what she looks forward to as her career continues to open up to new horizons and expansion To benefit the next generation.

I describe myself as deeply rooted in the performing arts and creative expression. Music, in particular, has always held a special place in my life. I always say music is my best friend. Alongside my passion for music, I am also drawn to theater and fashion, which serve as important creative outlets and sources of personal inspiration for me.