(NEW YORK – April 6, 2026) – When you have spent years working alongside one of the most consequential civil rights voices in American history, you either fold under the weight of that legacy or you rise to carry it forward. Gina C. Williams chose to rise.
A former corporate employee of the National Action Network (NAN), Gina had the rare distinction of working directly under the Reverend Al Sharpton — frontline warrior, living legend, and unapologetically controversial champion in the fight against racial prejudice and injustice. That proximity to power wasn’t a title. It was a calling.
Gina answered that calling with everything she had.
As former Chair of the NAN Education Committee, she understood that the most dangerous weapon in the fight for equity isn’t a megaphone — it’s a classroom. And when classrooms become overcrowded, understaffed, and under-resourced, children pay the price. Black and brown children pay it first.
So Gina did what warriors do. She picked up her pen.
Her campaign — Class Size Matters: The Power of the Pen — was a grassroots mobilization effort with a singular mission: pressure Governor Kathy Hochul to sign landmark class size legislation into law. Unwavering in her commitment and relentless in her advocacy, Gina helped push that bill across the finish line.
It is now law.
On Tuesday, April 14, the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards is proud to honor Gina C. Williams at Black Wall Street CHELSEA — the latest stop in our 2026 national awards series celebrating Black entrepreneurs, advocates, and community builders who are changing the game.
This is a woman who sat in rooms where history was made and decided she wasn’t done making it. A woman who turned her NAN experience into a blueprint for civic power. A woman who proved that one dedicated voice — backed by community, fueled by purpose — can change the law of the state of New York.
Join us in celebrating her.
📍 135 West 20th Street, Suite 302 | New York, NY 📅 Tuesday, April 14, 2026 🎟️ RSVP: blackwallstreetchelsea.eventbrite.com
Doni Glover is the founder and publisher of BMORENews.com, now in its 24th year of covering Black Baltimore, and the founder of the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards, now in its 15th year. He is also the host of the Emmy-nominated Doni Glover podcast and The Doni Glover Show on WMAR-TV 2.
