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M. Quentin Williams

Sports/Entertainment Legal Expert, Business Advisor & Crisis Management Consultant

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Biography

Quentin Williams is an attorney, author, prolific international speaker and master storyteller, former FBI agent and former federal prosecutor who has held positions as an executive with the National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Williams currently serves as an industry adviser, business strategist, crisis management consultant and legal expert with a wealth of knowledge and experience in wide-ranging areas of business, including the sports and entertainment industries. With more than 30 years of established business expertise and over 25 years of legal experience, he is a trusted confidant and experienced educator with a lengthy record of successful deal-making and community advocacy. An in demand keynote speaker and instructor at the FBI National Academy (FBINA), he has addressed business, political, education and community leaders at conferences, symposia and other events worldwide, including acclaimed lectures at Harvard University, the FBI Academy, AXA Corporate, the United States Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney’s Office (District of Connecticut), National Reconnaissance Office and Driver Education’s national association. Read More >

And some say that Unicorns don't exist!

This impressive pedigree serves Williams well as chairman and chief executive officer of The Butler Lappert Williams Firm PC (BLW Firm)–a full-service New York City law firm. The BLW Firm represents the legal and business interests of companies and individuals across a broad spectrum of industries including sports, entertainment, fashion, media, technology, medical, legal, financial, law enforcement and education. Williams is also chairman and chief executive officer of Williams Media and Marketing Group, LLC (Williams Media), a Los Angeles-based company. Founded in 2002, Williams Media creates, owns and produces media projects and events, and offers brand development strategies for domestic and international properties.

Williams’ high-achieving high school academic record and All-State football honors earned him numerous academic and athletic scholarship offers from many of the nation’s leading colleges and universities. Ultimately, he selected Boston College (BC) and attended BC on a full football scholarship. In 1987, he earned an undergraduate degree in economics and began his career as an administrator at a New York City law firm for one year before attending St. John’s University School of Law (SJUL). In 1991, Williams graduated from law school with a concentration in labor law and worked as a litigator for one year with a New York City law firm before being appointed to serve as a special agent for the FBI.

After several years of service and being recognized on numerous occasions by the FBI for his excellence and dedication as a law enforcement officer, Williams accepted an offer to serve as a federal prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Connecticut. He prosecuted both white-collar and violent crime cases as an Assistant United States Attorney.

Then, the National Football League (NFL) was so impressed with Quentin that it created a position for him so that he could save the lives of its cherished players.

He transitioned into the world of professional sports with the position at the National Football League (NFL) in New York City where he worked on off-the-field policy issues - to include his authorship of the league's first Violent Crime Policy.

A position with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars followed wherein Williams negotiated player contracts and supervised several departments in the area of football operations. Under his guidance, the team was recognized as having the NFL’s Most Outstanding Player Development Program. He subsequently served as team president for the North Charleston Lowgators, an NBA minor league team that was spotlighted during its championship run in the ESPN reality series, Down Low – Life in the D-League. While with the NBA, the Charleston Regional Business Journal selected Williams as one of the city’s most influential “40 Under 40” business leaders.

A dedicated community leader and mentor, Williams is an advocate for self-empowerment and service to others. He is the founder and chief executive officer of the nonprofit organization, Dedication to Community (D2C), and the impetus behind the D2C initiative Choose2Live—a community advocacy program that engages middle school through college students, law enforcement, community groups and inmates as audiences for building strong professional relationships and making positive, healthy and rational life choices.

Quentin’s widely distributed and critically acclaimed book, A Survival Guide: How NOT To Get KILLED By The POLICE, serves as the premier text for building relationships and constructing successful communities.

His on-screen analytical and public speaking skills are in high demand by film, television, radio and on-line media outlets - including ESPN and other national and local platforms.

In 2018, Quentin was honored by corporate titan and community partner, TIAA, as a “Making A Difference” leader – an award that recognizes individuals who are impacting society successfully through a demonstrated commitment to positive change. And in 2019, Quentin was appointed to serve on the FBI Law Enforcement Education and Training Council at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia where he is an instructor, teaching law enforcement leaders how to develop and implement positive, impactful methodologies for societal change.

Williams is also the co-founder and managing director of the nationally-distributed EndZone Luncheon Series and a visiting lecturer/contributor to his law school alma mater. He is a member of the Executive Committee for SJUL’s Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development. His other activities include his work as a member of the Executive Committee for Seton Hall University’s Center for Leadership Development.

Quentin was born on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and grew up in New York City and Yonkers, New York. He is the proud parent of a wonderfully talented son and an extraordinary daughter – both of whom serve as his inspiration. Read Less ^

Speaker Videos

Dedication to Community

TEDTalk: How Statistics Are Wrong

The Importance of Positive Personal Relationships

Speech Topics

Preparing For Greatness: Personal & Professional Choices

Quentin should have been a statistic but instead rose from the depths of poverty to a place of personal and professional success. Raised by a single mother on welfare in a bad neighborhood, he navigated a dangerous environment during the post-Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, the crack epidemic of the late 1970s and 1980s and the gang wars of the 1990s to become a unique and thought-provoking leader. He connects his success to the choices he made. Read More >

In a global society where our talent-rich communities are being confronted with unprecedented challenges, the opportunities for success have also never been greater.

The key ingredients for overcoming life's challenges, attaining success and maximizing one's potential - both personally and professionally - are highlighted by Quentin in this talk; thus providing tremendous inspiration for the implementation of impactful life strategies. Read Less ^

Moving Closer To The Middle: Police/Community Relations

Quentin is one of our nation's preeminent experts in the area of police/community relations. Before the spike in public awareness, he published "A Survival Guide: How NOT To Get KILLED By The POLICE, Part I", which is a critically-acclaimed book positioned to save lives with instructions for drivers when they are being pulled over by the police. Quentin draws from his own experience as a young man, and his latter years in law enforcement, to outline how everyone can come together. Read More >

The depth of this talk offers real solutions and action steps for change - highlighting the importance of building productive and vibrant communities given the landscape of an ever-changing and diverse base of societal leadership, including those in the law enforcement, corporate, political and education industries.

Quentin advocates that education is the key for shifting societal culture - for both law enforcement and community members - and he has dedicated his life to bringing people together. Read Less ^

Turning Around Our Schools, Partnering with Communities: Education Industry

Quentin is the co-founder of the CTQ Group, a ground-breaking school turnaround company that consults with education and community leaders across the nation. He understands the deep generational disconnect that exists within many school systems at every level. His talk provokes thought about greater community engagement and cultural awareness in our school systems. We are at a pivotal time in our nation's history and the manner in which we educate our future generations will determine our standing in this ever-expanding global economy.

Relationships Determine Your Destiny: Personal & Business Success

Quentin attributes his success to the extraordinary relationships in his life—and provides a powerful message for people who can shape their lives by the company they choose to keep. He takes the audience through the relationships that propelled him forward in life. Read More >

After overcoming a childhood in poverty, Quentin attended Boston College on a full football scholarship where he also excelled as a track & field athlete. He would eventually become an attorney, FBI agent, federal prosecutor and sports executive with the NFL and NBA. Along the way, there were people who inspired, directed and sustained him.

As Quentin often notes, "relationships will determine your destiny", and this talk provides key takeaways for creating cherished, productive and sustainable relationships. Read Less ^

Equality is Everyone’s Job: Cultural Awareness & Acceptance

Quentin works with institutions of higher education, corporations, not-for-profit organizations and government entities to shed light on the importance of cultural awareness at every level of society. The battle for equality must be led by change agents who put forth a philosophy of acceptance in every sector. Mere tolerance is no longer an option. Understanding how diversity makes us better as a society and benefits all - economically and socially - is the foundation of this talk.

Going Beyond a Career to a Calling: Personal & Professional Empowerment

Quentin and his family founded Dedication To Community, a nonprofit organization with a mission to generate awareness around each individual’s role in building economic empowerment, public safety and social justice. He believes that we can heal the world and find a fulfilling life and career in service to others. He connects the dots of his own search to his eventual calling. Quentin advocates for paying it forward and threading your life’s purpose through your personal and professional journey. He often says that "we are built to do GOOD and WELL at the same time" and, during this talk, Quentin provides key steps for achieving that end.

Testimonials

“Quentin, you are a gentleman and a scholar! Plaudits to Brenda for inspiring this work and to you for caring enough to create a powerful “how-to” for anyone who might be dealing with a police interaction. Your guide is a quick and easy-to-read virtual seminar with concrete ways to stay safe and protected. It should be distributed to every student, every parent, organizations in all sectors and to City Hall and the White House. I will kick that off by sharing with my clients, colleagues, friends and family. Quentin: there is no doubt that one day your children will be extraordinarily proud of their dad’s earnest achievement. This is compassionate leadership at its best-and once it is widely disseminated-I believe you will save lives. For that alone, you deserve a standing ovation! It is with great humility that I probably call you my friend. Thank you.”

- Asset Management Executive

“What an instructive, humane, intelligent, compassionate, sensitive and sensible, concisely written roadmap for navigating interactions with law enforcement!... You have managed to demonstrate, by your own unique experiences, both sides of an intensely complex dynamic-what goes on in the minds of police officers and the fear and rage that too many people encounter on a daily basis, in a hugely humane manner! This book needed to be written. You deal fairly with both sides of the issue.”

- Higher Education Administrator

“Quentin Williams is the most powerful and compelling speaker I have ever seen and is speaking daily to the youth of our country. He presented here in East Hartford and the entire 11th grade was spellbound for an hour. It was probably the first time they had ever seen someone who looked like them [my High School is 87% minority] with credibility and a message about youth/police relationships. Q professes communication, making good decisions and forging new relationships. Although he spoke to High School students here, his message to law enforcement and to the communities we police is just as strong. Simon Sinek was a great leadership icon for us. Quentin Williams should be the icon who leads us to a new connection with our neighborhoods.”

- Chief of Detectives, East Hartford PD, Connecticut

“I’d like to thank Quentin Williams and his team for coming to Michigan and to Berrian County especially to Benton Harbor HS this morning and to Berrian Springs HS this afternoon. The information was necessary and the content was timely. I think the youth enjoyed it and the adults also appreciated it; information that we did not know or understand before this particular event.”

- Commissioner, Berrian County 3rd District, Michigan

“Both Q’s personal story and lessons he shared are so on point for today’s challenging social and business environment. Overcoming obstacles, the value of relationships, and getting diverse groups to come together… It all resonated with our audience. His engagement with our people before and after the session added a level of appreciated personal touch. Q’s presence and message would add value to any organization.”

- Regional President (US-Southeast), AXA

“I cannot thank Quentin enough for taking the time to share his powerful message with our team. His presentation was both practical and inspirational. Our players left with a better sense not only of how to live in the world as it is today, but also of how to create the world we want to see tomorrow. I will use many of the concepts that Quentin introduced with our team on a daily basis.”

- Men’s Head Basketball Coach, Harvard University

“Quentin Williams is a dynamic speaker that engages the audience and makes them question the status quo. His ideas and beliefs are a result of his experiences which brings legitimacy to his words. We were very fortunate to have him speak at the 2015 North Carolina School Directors Conference.”

- Director, Criminal Justice Standards Division

“To bring this to our community gives our kids a good opportunity to hear from people from all walks of life, including police officers, of what is expected on traffic stops and how they can interact with the police so that we are able to keep them safe, keep our police officers safe and keep our communities safe. We really appreciate his input and I think he connected really well with the kids.”

- Chief of Police, Michigan

“This is my second opportunity, my privilege, being able to sit down and listen in the audience to Q Williams’ message. These are survival skills. I myself have had interactions with law enforcement and I wish I had this counsel as a young man growing up in New York City in the Bronx. “

- Statewide Coordinator, Connecticut