Nolan Williams, Jr., founding CEO of NEWorks Productions, a leading producer of impact-arts programming and entertainment since 2003, is best described as a creative force. An award-winning producer, music director, composer/lyricist, playwright, filmmaker, musicologist, and cultural curator, the multi-hyphenate Williams, Jr. has dedicated his professional career to creating works that illuminate issues of civil rights, social justice, and cultural curiosities. His body of work includes: choral/orchestral works premiered by major American orchestras and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra; music for television; the bestselling African American Heritage Hymnal (over 500,000 copies sold worldwide); songwriting credits on two Grammy-nominated projects; arts and educational festivals produced in partnership with The Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Mann Center and Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts; cultural programming developed with the Smithsonian, U.S. State Department and multiple embassies; a slate of theatrical productions, including his critically-hailed new musical, GRACE (winner of eleven 2022 Broadway World Washington, DC awards, including "Best Musical" and "Best New Musical"); and video & documentary projects, including the star-studded viral video “I Have A Right To Vote” (over two million global media hits), “Becoming Douglass Commonwealth” (winner of ten media prizes), and his most recent work, the film short "Rise Up & Fight" (recipient of 85 international film, music & media honors, including "Best Animation Music Video" in the 2024 Europe Music Video Awards, 2024 Los Angeles Movie & Music Video Awards and 2024 Chicago Indie Film Awards; "Best Music Video" in the 2024 London Global Film Awards, 2024 Paris International Short Festival and 2024 Los Angeles Film Awards; and five nominations in the 2025 Cannes Film Awards).
A resident of Washington, DC, Williams, Jr. was named the Kennedy Center’s inaugural Social Practice Resident in 2019. He further serves as a member of the Howard University Board of Visitors for the Divinity School and is former chair of the Kennedy Center Community Advisory Board.
Last year, he was named a DCCAH Arts & Humanities Fellow, honored with a 2024 Living Legends Award for Service to Humanity, and recognized by Oberlin College in February 2024 as one of 21 trailblazing Black alumni. He was also featured speaker for week nine of the Chautauqua Institution African American Heritage House lecture series.
