MICHELLE BANNISTER WILLIAMS
I have over 25 years in pharmaceutical sales and business development experience in the healthcare space and enjoy the relationships and skills developed in my professional career and the opportunities it has afforded me to meet and engage with new people every day.
I am passionate about my role as an anti-racist and consistently work to help normalize discussions on race relations especially in places where these conversations have been avoided for far too long like church, school systems, work and in my circle of influence. My goal is always to educate and inform with love and respect with the goal of moving closer to reconciliation and healing.
When I am not writing or reading, I enjoy both long walks and short runs. Yoga and daily meditation help me maintain my focus and fuel my creativity. Each spring I plant an outdoor vegetable garden and enjoy the months of tending and harvesting and sharing the yield with friends and neighbors. I love cooking and creating new recipes for my family to try.
I attended The University of Toledo before transferring to Eastern Michigan University where I earned a BS in Public Relations with a minor in Communications in 1993. In 2020, I completed a Certification in Leading Diversity Equity and Inclusion through Northwestern University to strengthen my skills as a DEI Educator.
My husband, Sean and I, live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and we recently celebrated 24 years of marriage and are parents to Sean Jr., Ian and Seth and grandparents to Sean III.
I am an anti-racist DEI-B (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging) educator, speaker and author.
I learned about the importance of heeding my own voice and writing for me, not for anyone else or under a pseudonym or curtailing my voice to meet the expectations of others. I learned that when I let my characters fully express themselves via my storytelling, I allow for them to fully express themselves without apology or concern for repercussions.
I write because it is what I was created to do. The world needs to hear the voices of my characters and feel the experiences they have had in a way that allows them to empathize in a new way. If I do not introduce the world to these characters, they will walk right past them unaware and never recognize them or worse yet, never recognize themselves in them.
