Son of Civil Rights Legacy Leader Breaks Glass Ceilings in Government and Finance to Close the Wealth Gap: Meet Mac Williams, President and Chief Operating Officer of Xponance
Mac, you are enormously successful African American business leader. What is your personal story?
I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, during the days when US steel and auto manufacturing was king. Everyone was working in high paying union jobs, the civil rights movement was in full stride led by Dr. King, Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, and my dad, MW II. He was my hero, the consummate businessman, an honest politician, and a family man. He and my mother instilled in me the value of education and the need to continue the struggle for racial justice. The need to level the playing field of the US capitalistic system from within the government and in the private sector.
This motivated me to attend college and obtain my BA degree in Economics from Miami of Ohio and to obtain my JD from Case Western Reserve University and pass the Ohio bar.
I was motivated by the President of the Ohio Senate to accept the position of General Counsel for the Ohio Auditor of State. I was the first African American to hold the position. It is in that capacity where I learned about the law and finances of the state and its municipalities. One of my responsibilities was to draft legislation and administrative rules on behalf of the Auditor. I assisted in the drafting of legislation and rules that opened up contracting and employment opportunities for minorities and women.
I was appointed by the Governor of Ohio as the first African American General Counsel for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. It was there that the state implemented the largest prison construction project in the nation. I was intimately involved in drafting administrative rules in the selection of minority and women vendors and the hiring of minorities and women.
I returned to the Auditor of State as the first African American Deputy Auditor. It was in that position where I was a member of all the State retirement boards and financing agencies. I was instrumental in opening up opportunities for minorities and women to manage the states retirement assets and to finance the states debt obligations.
I left the state to join the African American Philadelphia owned investment banking firm of Pryor, McClendon, Counts as a senior vice president responsible for managing investment banking and sales and trading activities. I was involved in numerous municipal financing activities across the country. In addition, I serviced many states and municipalities in their investment activities. I left Pryor to join Greentree Brokerage Services as an owner to expand my influence in the world of finance.
In 2010, I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime to join FIS Group Inc. as its third President and COO and to work side by side with Tina Byles Williams, a gifted person with a brilliant mind and a tireless worker in the investment industry. We have worked arduously in developing and growing the firm from a small one strategy boutique to a multi strategy firm with an AUM of over $14 billion.
You are married to one of the most successful black women in finance. How do you support her success and what do you recommend to other men who want to be strong advocates for their partners and women with whom they work?
I support Tina’s success by giving her the space to grow and innovate. She is a unicorn in a business where most the players don’t look like her – so I try and encourage her when things get tough. I focus my efforts to support her vision of growing assets and leveling the playing field by being reliable, accountable, and dependable.
What do you most want to accomplish for the rest of your professional career?
I want to help grow the firm to $50 billion AUM in five years I want to continue to spread the gospel that women and African Americans are as talented as their white male counterparts. I want to close the wealth gap.
What is the legacy you most want to leave this world?
McCullough Williams III loved his family and was reliable, accountable and dependable. He left his mark by assisting others succeed in life.
How can GlobalMindED's Inclusive Community be helpful in supporting your legacy?
GlobalMindED is an intentional organization focused on closing the wealth gap by providing educational opportunities with mentorships and employment opportunities to disadvantaged minorities. The mission of GIC in assisting others succeed in life is a big part of my legacy.