Mr. Williams Goes To Washington: Meeting President Obama At The White House

Wednesday afternoon July 22 around 430PM  I started to make my way through our nation’s capital to the place where the President and his family made their home.  I had the added comfort of not going alone too; one of my coworkers, Beth Atherton had received the invitation to the reception as well. Honestly the entire experience felt a bit surreal. From the invitation, to the airline flights, and the suit shopping, to the encouragement of friends and family on social media I was a bit overwhelmed. I made my way through multiple identification checks and security checkpoints, and then began making my way up the steps to the White House.

Walking through the space, my mind was filled with gratitude. I had gratitude for the opportunity of course, but more so gratitude for all of the folks who had poured into my life, all of us unaware that an opportunity like this would ever present itself. I was also grateful for the words of my friend, and Nuru’s founder Jake Harriman who had recently shared in a speech that as a Marine, he fought for “the idea that is America, a nation that stands for the freedom of human rights and lasting, meaningful choices for everyone, everywhere.” Here I was, in the place where every US President had made his home, in the place where global leaders for the last 200 years had met with these Presidents and talked about the past, current events, and a pathway for the future.

I made my way from room to room and was just simply amazed that regular citizens would have an opportunity to walk through a place of such hallowed tradition and leadership. I looked on the walls at portraits of former Presidents. I sat on chairs that were more than 200 years old, chairs that were sat upon for discussion, debate, and contemplation as leaders thought through decisions that would affect future generations of our country and the world.

As I walked around, I started conversations with a few of the service members on duty to learn more about the space. I walked around looking at the dining ware of former Presidents, photos of historic moments for our nation and the world, and I thought—what a privilege—I don’t belong here—this is out of my league. But then, at the same time, I thought, that is the beauty of America. For all of our faults, (because we are not a perfect utopia), we are a nation where a small town boy from West Virginia, and regular folk from everywhere have a stake in shaping the future, by voting and by serving. I met a woman there named Peggy who had been on staff for more than 50 years. She started two days after President Kennedy was assassinated. She was incredibly humble and joyful, and I absolutely loved talking with her. She told me that her time in the White House had been filled with amazing experiences, every day, and that she had the privilege of meeting some pretty amazing people during her time. As I listened to her share, I thought, “I’m so thankful for the opportunity to meet this amazing lady. She has spent more time in these hallowed halls than any of the Presidents she has served under. What a gift.”

An individual stepped forward to make the announcement that we should make our way from the State Dining Room to the East Room. There was a podium toward the front of the room with the Seal of the President Of The United States on the front, and a rope that was probably 5-10 feet away.  There were multiple video cameras throughout the space, and Beth and I made our way toward the rope and waited.

As we waited we both found ourselves striking up conversations with others around us. Among those around us was a Lumbee woman who had been doing some amazing work for small farmers in the American Indian community. I shared with her my own Shawnee heritage and tribal involvement, and we had a truly engaging conversation about the Native American issues particularly related to tribes on the East Coast.  As we talked, I thought, what are the chances that I would end up standing next to another Native person in the White House…while celebrating the signing into law a renewal of the African Growthand Opportunity Act. The world is small indeed.

Just a few moments later, President Barack Obama made his way to the podium and gave a short address. And as he spoke, he kept looking my direction, and making eye contact. The first time it happened, I thought, “Is he looking at me?” and then, it kept happening. It probably helped that I was close to the front, and at least a half-foot taller than many of the people around me. After his remarks, the President made his way to the rope and began making his way across the front row shaking hands. I had let a couple of people in front of me, and thought, “I may have just missed an opportunity to greet the President.” But as he made his way to my side of the room, he extended his hand back past the front row of people, grabbed my hand, and said very genuinely, “Thanks so much for coming!” My mind raced for the right words to say to our nation’s Commander-In-Chief, and I humbly spoke as we shook, “Thank you for having me, sir.” He then proceeded to shake hands with others, and quietly left the room to prepare for his trip to the African continent.

As the room began to empty out, I made my way back to the dining room and chatted with Beth, my coworker, about the experience. It was pretty amazing all around. I had also captured a photo of Beth and President Obama exchanging a quick greeting as well. We made our way through the entrance hall to the State Dining Room where we were able to enjoy a short conversation with two older Catholic sisters who had committed their lives to serving their African neighbors. It was a beautiful moment to listen to stories from two women who had been faithful to a vocational calling to serve.

This entire trip and opportunity will be a cherished and special memory for me, and I am thoroughly filled with gratitude for the opportunity I had to spend time in the White House. I remember as a young child, always being told on field trips that I was representing my school and my town and my state. During this experience, the weight of those words came flooding back. I was given a supreme privilege to represent not only Nuru, but my faith, my Shawnee tribal community, my state, and my family in the highest office in the land.

The truth is, every day is an opportunity for each one of us to represent well the people and cultures from whom and from which we have been shaped.  May we each step into our days with a firm grasp of this reality, and may we each seek to represent well as we commit ourselves to the service and betterment of others.

Reflection: Getting Invited To The White House

During the afternoon of Sunday July 19 I received an email with an invitation inside it. The email indicated that I was invited by President Barack Obama to the White House to attend a reception celebrating the signing of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on June 22, 2015 with an RSVP needed by July 21. I was reading this email and sharing it with Jamie and a couple of our friends, and they were all telling me, “Wow Billy! You have to go!”  I was a little in shock by the whole thing. I have never been invited to the White House, and never received an invitation from the President, and I wasn’t even sure how to respond. I was honored, but I was also half-way across the country about to share Nuru at an incredible conference in Denver Colorado.

The folks at the conference heard my dilemma and went out of their way to let me know how excited they were for me, and that they would move around my keynote to make sure I was able to make the trip to the White House. They encouraged and affirmed me and celebrated this amazing opportunity for Nuru to be represented at our nation’s capital, and helped me begin thinking through an action plan.

To be honest, I was filled with gratitude for the opportunity but wasn’t sure what to expect or how this would all come together. I didn’t have a suit, tie, shoes, or anything I could wear that would be remotely appropriate for the occasion. I would have to book a flight roughly 24 hours before I needed to leave. I would need to figure out where to stay and how I was going to get around during this whirlwind event. And every step of the way, my friends rallied around me to help make this trip possible. I booked my flight, and my friends JR and Christy Pittman told me that they would pick me up and take me wherever I needed to go once I arrived in DC. They allowed me the privilege of sleeping under their roof (which also gave me a great opportunity to catch up with them too!).

Additionally, one of my old roommates, former coworkers, and dear friends, Derek Roberts lives in Denver. He told me that he would take care of getting me to and from the airport in Denver and would support in whatever capacity I needed. He and my friend and coworker Alex Martin provided some tips and ideas on purchasing appropriate clothing, but I still needed to find said clothing. That’s where Kris Woyna came in and he came in big!!! Kris is a software architect and good friend who I have gotten to know at ÜberConf over the last four years, and I’ve always respected his counsel. He adamantly exhorted me that I needed to make this trip, and I needed to make sure I looked sharp for the sake of Nuru as well as for the sobering truth that I would likely meet the President of the United States.

 

Kris took me and Jamie on a fashion emergency trip Monday night in what is probably the coolest car I’ve ever had the privilege of riding in. An old school Land Rover that was legitimately ready to be taken off-road, and which Kris has frequently taken on outdoor excursions into remote areas of the US. We visited several places, and finally landed at Nordstrom where they were having a very timely anniversary sale. As I tried on a couple of suits, Kris was telling everyone who was helping me about the occasion and about the work I have been part of at Nuru. Kris gave me very wise counsel with regard to suits, styles, fits, and the like. He went out of his way and gave up his entire evening to help me look presentable. To be honest, I’ve only worn a suit on a few occasions during my life, and I just didn’t know that much about them. Kris enlisted help and additional counsel from Sandy Ross, one of the incredible staff at Nordstrom and she went to work to find me shoes, socks, a shirt, and a tie to complete the ensemble. Because of Kris, she knew the kind of work we do at Nuru, and that I wanted to look my best, but do so on a budget.

In addition, the tailor, whose name was Nam, began working with me to make sure my suit fit properly. Although I’ve worn a suit on a handful of occasions, I have never had one tailor fit to my body. Nam said he wasn’t sure how quickly they would be able to turn around all of the fitting, but Kris passionately implored him to help me get ready for a possible meeting with the President. This was Monday night and the store was about to close. I would need to have clothes ready by Tuesday at 1PM at the latest to be able to make my flight. Nam made a quick phone call, and announced that he would have the suit ready by noon (he actually had it ready by 11AM!).  AND, they didn’t charge me for any of the alterations (many places charge $10-50 per alteration); these folks really came through in a BIG way!!!

Because Kris took the time to guide me along this process, and because of the incredible help of the people at Nordstrom, I was ready to look my best as I entered the White House. Because of friends like JR, Christy, and Derek, I was able to worry about one less thing as I traveled. And as I sat in the Denver airport waiting to board the plane, I was incredibly emotionally overwhelmed and filled with gratitude. This opportunity was an incredible win for Nuru, but it was also an incredible win for every person who has believed in Nuru and supported our mission from the beginning. It was also an opportunity I could have never imagined for me personally. In my wildest imaginations, I would never have fathomed such an incredible opportunity would present itself. I had an opportunity to represent not only Nuru, but also my home state of West Virginia. And more than that, all of the important lessons I have learned from friends and family from childhood to the present that have helped me become a better version of myself, those lessons and memories came flooding back to my mind as I thought about the weight of what I was about to experience.

I’m incredibly grateful for both friends and family, and we all should be. We each get the opportunity to become better by listening to the counsel of others and enjoying and savoring every moment, every nugget of wisdom, every experience that shapes us. May you and I always be filled with gratitude for the gifts that friends and family give us that shape us and help us contribute to bettering our communities and the world around us.

The Last Hunger Season by Roger Thurow

Earlier this summer, I was able to acquire a copy  of Roger Thurow’s new book, The Last Hunger Season. The book chronicles one year in the lives of four families who are working with an organization called One Acre Fund (OAF) to improve their livelihood as small shareholder farmers.

My initial interest in the book was because One Acre Fund is an incredible thought partner for Nuru International, and our CEO, Jake Harriman, did a summer internship with OAF in 2007 in order to learn more about their model first-hand. If you have not heard of One Acre Fund, I strongly recommend you look into their work to improve the lives of farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi.

But now for more about the book. Thurow starts off by explaining what is meant by a “hunger season” or “wanjala” in Kiswahili as this is a foreign concept to people who have never set foot outside the United States. In the West, we have access to food year round. For people in the US, it is hard to fathom that anyone on the planet would ever run out of food, or that food prices could double and triple during those times of year when there is a shortage. Even more difficult for our minds to imagine is that people grow most of their own food. While we know that farms exist, most people here buy their food in a supermarket.

Thurow does a masterful job of allowing the reader to enter into daily life for people in remote rural Kenya who are living in extreme poverty.  Unless one has witnessed it firsthand, it is hard to imagine whole communities who lack access to electricity or running water. It’s hard to imagine healthcare that is "distant and meager at best." Beyond this, Thurow helps readers get a better understanding of what access to high quality seed and fertilizer and improved planting techniques can do for these agrarian communities.

Too often, in the West we have been given distorted images of people living in extreme poverty. Too often, our global neighbors are portrayed as helpless and unable to fend for themselves. The truth of the matter is that our global neighbors are incredibly resourceful, but they have largely lacked access to tools and knowledge that could mean massive improvements to their livelihood.  Too often, these people are portrayed in a way in which we do not see their full humanity, their brilliance, or the daily choices they are compelled to make. Roger Thurow helps us to get a more accurate image of who these people are and what their dreams are, both for themselves and for their children. During each chapter, he allows us to walk through the lives of four One Acre farmers, and experience the challenges they bravely face during the course of a year. I believe that through Thurow's detailed chronicling of one year in the lives of the families of Leonida, Rasoa, Zipporah, and Francis, we have been given a true treasure. 

Through the innovative work of organizations like One Acre Fund and Nuru International, literally thousands of families are taking the first steps toward lifting themselves out of extreme poverty and dealing with chronic hunger. In the book, one gets a vivid image of the challenges that a family might face in a year, challenges like paying school fees and paying back agricultural loans. Thurow reminds us of challenges like insuring that a family has enough food to eat through the wanjala, or even challenges like dealing with health emergencies like malaria. 

Beyond his detailed description of one year in the life of four farmers, Thurow offers a primer to the history of sustainable agriculture and international development from Norman Borlaug's work in India and Pakistan in the 60s and 70s to renewal efforts being led by groups like Bread for the World, One Acre Fund, Nuru, and many others in this generation. Throughout the book, he also details the work of advocacy groups like ONE (an advocacy organization started by Bono, the lead singer of the band U2) and even the work of the Obama administration's Feed The Future initiative and agencies like USAID to bolster food security and production. He even quotes US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack's reminder that, "just one lifetime ago the United States was a country of subsistence farmers...there are no better innovators than those who farm the land." Thurow allows us to not only read about the lives of farmers, but his book is filled with opportunities to learn more about the history of sustainable agricultural development, as well as learn how others, like former representative Tony Hall and Christian writer Jim Wallis, have taken tangible action steps to speak and take action about the unnecessary injustice of chronic hunger.

I really loved the book for a number of reasons, and I believe the book is a must-read for anybody interested in sustainable agriculture as well as how our global neighbors who are suffering in extreme poverty may be able to chart a better future for themselves. If you take the time to read the stories of one year in the life of the families of Leonida, Rasoa, Zipporah, and Francis, I hope you will be able to move past the statistics you may have heard, and come to the conclusion that there is hope, and that we stand on the threshold of an amazing opportunity to work together toward helping farmers like the ones mentioned above provide a better future for their families. Thank you Roger Thurow for your engaging and inspiring work open our eyes to parts of our world from which so many in the West have been insulated.

Invisible Children, Advocacy, and President Obama's Action Against the LRA

The year 2005 was an incredibly significant year for me. In 2005, I resigned as a chief of my tribe, I had my eyes opened in a life and career altering way to the issue of extreme poverty, and I was first exposed to an organization called Invisible Children.

My friend Dave Williams, who at the time was working with me as a leader in a summer-long character based leadership development program in Orlando Florida, shared a website with me. On the site, I was exposed to the brutality of child-soldiers in northern Uganda, and I saw the beginnings of one of the most impressive grassroots advocacy movements of young people I have ever witnessed, and I was thoroughly inspired. Less than a year later, representatives of Invisible Children visited the campus of WVU, and dozens in Morgantown and thousands around the country participated in a global night commute in solidarity with children in northern Uganda.

This organization, has catalyzed thousands of young people to take action against global atrocities like the work of Joseph Kony and the LRA in Uganda. I have met many people who trace back their beginnings of advocacy, justice, and community service work to their exposure to Invisible Children. Some of my closest friends have participated multiple times in some of this organization's awareness campaigns. These campaigns were designed to bring more than awareness. They awoke a desire in many for a different kind of world. 

Invisible Children, through one of their campaigns, came on Oprah Winfrey's radar, and because of that, came on the radar of millions. They have partnered with many other organizations and agencies, and have encouraged people to write their congressional representatives to take action to end the reign of terror caused by the LRA in Africa. It was because of Invisible Children that I wrote my first letter as a concerned citizen to Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, my state's Senators at the time. They encouraged a lobby day in DC that saw over 1000 grassroots lobbyists travel to our nation's capital to advocate for a bill of which Invisible Children played a strong role in its initiation.

And now, President Obama has authorized 100 military advisors to travel to Africa to help local militaries bring an end to 26 years of terror, atrocities, and the abduction of 1000s of children who have been forced to become soldiers. I believe that Invisible Children has played a huge role in encouraging young people to participate in our government's processes, and I believe that for many, it has restored a belief that they can make a difference in this world, they have a voice that can be heard, and they have a role to play as citizen participants in our government as well as in bettering this world.

Who is the LRA from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Today, remember that you have a voice, and you have an incredible opportunity to good in this world, and to help make the world a better place--don't take it for granted!

The Work of Nuru International & The Death of Osama Bin Laden

Sunday evening, before going to bed, I began scrolling through my twitter newsfeed, and discovered that President Barack Obama was about to make a special announcement. Before he was able to speak, the news was all over the internet via Twitter & Facebook. United States Special Operations Units had been in a firefight with Osama Bin Laden and the leader of the terrorist organization Al Quaeda had been killed. As I lay in bed, incredibly tired, I pulled myself together to go before the television and waited to hear the words from the mouth of our nation's Commander In Chief, Barack Obama.

As I waited for the President to begin his speech, my mind went back to September 11, 2001, and the day that four planes were hijacked and nearly three thousand lives were lost in a matter of moments. I was an analytical chemist at Mylan Pharmaceuticals and I was preparing samples for a test as the news came over the radio. It was shortly after that day that my career took a significant turn and I left the pharmaceutical company to pursue a career in ministry with Great Commission Ministries. Leaving Mylan was a difficult decision both financially and personally because I had many friends there, and I loved the fact that I was serving millions of people by insuring they had high quality medicine to take.

Over the next eight years as I worked and recommenced my studies on the campus of West Virginia University, my friend Jake Harriman was serving on the front lines of Iraq as a platoon commander in a Special Operations unit called Force Reconnaissance. While he was serving, he had seen a connection between terrorism, insurgency and extreme poverty that led him to launch out an initiative to fight the war on terror on a different front.  The connection in its simplest form is that terror and insurgency groups use the desperate conditions of people living in extreme poverty as a means to recruit individuals to take up arms against the West.

In 2007, Jake, John Hancox, and I met in Morgantown, WV, the place where John and I call home, and the place where the three of us initially met. We gathered together to talk about the issue of extreme poverty, and an organization that Jake and John were starting to fight extreme poverty by empowering local communities to lift themselves out of their condition in a holistic, sustainable, and scalable manner. The idea Jake and John were proposing absolutely fascinated me. In September 2008 the idea became a reality when we launched Nuru International and began this innovative approach to fighting extreme poverty that Jake had developed while attending graduate school at Stanford University.

We inserted our first team on the ground in southwestern Kenya, and today over 10,000 people are beginning to lift themselves out of extreme poverty through Nuru's unique model. Farmers are able to feed their families, save money, pay school fees, and have drastically reduced the incidence of malaria and waterborne illness.

As the President began his speech I took in the words of May 1, 2011. "...The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda. His death does not mark the end of our effort..."


Indeed, it does not. As long as there are people living in extreme poverty, there will be a recruiting ground for groups like Al Quaeda. I am grateful to be working with a team of dedicated individuals like Jake and John who are working to give our global neighbors access to tools and knowledge that will insure that this and future generations will be able to live with opportunities and choices and will take away the desperate conditions that contribute to the cultivation of terror and insurgency groups, trafficking, slavery, and many other significant global problems today.


The president wrapped up his speech, and I was sitting in my living room confronted with the reality that while this was a significant day, our work is not over. Every day, my friends and I who work at Nuru wake up with the reality that we are working toward ending the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation. And so, just like the rest of the world, I will take a moment to reflect on this significant event, and then I will return to the work of engaging others to join us in this effort.


In that spirit, as you finish reading this, I want to invite you to join us in the fight by sharing Jake's Story with others, and possibly making a donation to further Nuru's work of empowering families out of extreme poverty in Kuria, Kenya and beyond. Thanks for reading and for your unique contribution to fighting terrorism and insurgency by working with Nuru toward the end of extreme poverty!