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Terrie Williams | |
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Born | Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. | May 12, 1954
Education | Brandeis University (BA) Columbia University School of Social Work (MS) |
Occupations |
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Terrie Williams (born May 12, 1954) is an American public relations speaker, author, therapist, and philanthropist.[ citation needed ]
Williams was born to parents Charles and Marie. [1]
Williams, after completing her high school, continued her education at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where she received a BA in Psychology and Sociology. She received an Alumni Achievement Award in 1988. [2] Upon completion of her bachelor's degree, she went on to obtain a Master's of Science in Social Work at Columbia University. [3]
Williams worked as a medical social worker at New York Hospital (now called Weill-Cornell Medical Center) counseling terminally ill and disabled patients. Later, she met and befriended jazz musician Miles Davis, who encouraged her to open her own business. [4]
In 1988, she founded the Terrie Williams Agency (TTWA) a public relations firm. [5] When it began, it represented Miles Davis and Eddie Murphy, TTWA expanded to offer employee training and motivational speaking for various organizations. The agency's clientele includes figures such as Prince, Chris Rock, Janet Jackson, Louis Gossett Jr., Al Sharpton, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Mo'Nique, Ntozake Shange, and Johnnie L. Cochran. Corporate clients have included HBO, Revlon, Time Warner, Essence magazine, and Forest City Ratner Companies. [6]
Her work in public relations has been referenced in textbooks, [7] [8] business guides, [9] [10] print editorials, [11] social media, and pop culture. [12] [13] From its creation in 1988 to its closure in 2018, the public relations firm provided many services on a pro bono basis to under-served communities. [6]
In 2003, Williams suffered from severe depression that impacted her public relations career. [14] She publicly discussed this in a 2005 Essence magazine interview, emphasizing the stigma around mental health treatment in the African-American community. [15] Transitioning into a mental health advocate, Williams spoke nationally to encourage open conversations on mental health issues. She wrote a book, Black Pain, in 2009 that is focused on mental health challenges in the black community. [16]
Williams has written four books. Her first, The Personal Touch: What You Really Need to Succeed in Today's Fast-paced Business World [17] offered "an excellent primer on the basics of building and maintaining business relationships." [18] The second book, Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens [19] formed the basis of Williams' non-profit Stay Strong Foundation. A Plentiful Harvest: Creating Balance and Harmony Through the Seven Living Virtues, [4] offers advice on how to insert core values into business practices. In 2008, she wrote Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting. [20]
In 2005, Williams founded the Stay Strong Foundation (SSF)—now dissolved. SSF aimed to raise awareness of teen issues, promote the personal well-being of young people and enhance educational and professional development. The foundation encouraged corporate and individual responsibility, developed educational resources for youth and youth organizations, provided and coordinated internships, set up mentoring opportunities, and facilitated visits by prominent individuals and business professionals to schools, libraries, youth organizations, and group homes.
In March 2008, the Stay Strong Foundation launched the "Healing Starts With Us" campaign. [21] [22] In 2010 SSF collaborated with the Ad Council and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to introduce a campaign entitled "Share Ourselves: Healing Starts With Us." [23] To date, the campaign has garnered $2.5 million in donated national advertising space and 11 million media impressions to significantly heighten awareness of the importance of mental and emotional health.
In October 2012, Williams was a featured speaker on mental health for World Mental Health Day. [24]
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a United States-based nonprofit organization originally founded as a grassroots group by family members of people diagnosed with mental illness. NAMI identifies its mission as "providing advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives" and its vision as "a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares". NAMI offers classes and trainings for people living with mental illnesses, their families, community members, and professionals, including what is termed psychoeducation, or education about mental illness. NAMI holds regular events which combine fundraising for the organization and education, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks.
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Lisa Dixon is a professor of psychiatry at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the Director of the Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research within the Department of Psychiatry. Her research focuses on improving the quality of care for individuals diagnosed with serious mental illnesses. She directs the Center for Practice Innovations (CPI) at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, where she oversees the implementation of evidence-based practices for individuals with serious mental illnesses for the New York State Office of Mental Health. She leads OnTrackNY, a statewide treatment program for adolescents and young adults experiencing their first episode of psychosis.
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Marita Golden is an American novelist, nonfiction writer, professor, and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, a national organization that serves as a resource center for African-American writers.
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