Karla Ballard Williams
Karla Ballard Williams is co-founder and CEO of YING, a peer to peer skill sharing and global time sharing platform (IOS /Android App) engaging consumers and brands in a complimentary currency that supports community and individual benefits. Ms. Ballard Williams was formerly SVP of Participant Media’s TAG division, a social-action agency working with brands, foundations and the public sector to ignite compelling campaigns that drove impact in vulnerable communities. Prior to joining Participant Media she was with Ogilvy & Mather as the SVP and lead for The IMPACT Studio working on projects that ranged from the State of California to Sony Pictures Television. Previously Karla worked at One Economy Corporation where she led a vital division of a $51 million BTOP grant focused broadband adoption and became and appointee to the Federal Communication's Committee on Diversity in Media. In addition, she created and led corporate relationships with partners such as Comcast/NBC, Verizon, Participant Media, Sprint, City Year and others.
She is a current board member of Alliance for Women in Media and Co-Chair of the Gracie’s Awards Gala, the Marcus Graham Project, Hashtaglunchbag, A Sense of Home, and USC’s Next Gen Council for Stephen Spielberg’s SHOAH Foundation. She's been a visiting speaker at Harvard, UCLA and Georgetown University and is a former board member of the nation’s second largest Community College, Northern Virginia Community College. Karla is also the co-founder of the first Urban League in the state of Delaware, The Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, and served as the first female national president of the National Urban League Young Professionals.
In 2012 Karla was awarded in NYC the Keeper’s of the Dream award from the National Action Network.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peaceful. Complex. Systematic
3 things Nature taught you?
To listen
To be seen
To observe the flow
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Point Dume, California
St. John's Parrish in Barbados
McKenna Beach, Maui, Hawaii
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Renewed
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Introspective
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Overwhelmed
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Romantic and connected to God
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Well Exxxxxcuse me!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Grandma and the Big Bad Wolf
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
On the school grounds at Germantown Academy I had a secret place to escape along a little creek path on our 152 acres property. I would create mystical stories around what this play was and the creatures that lived there. The play was so imaginative yet so real. I could never in a million years recreate the love I had for this spot in the woods but going back to the memories takes me back instantly.
